


Masks We Wear

by hunter_king



Series: Supernatural - J2 [14]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Barebacking, Bottom Jared Padalecki, M/M, Schmoop, Slash, Swearing, Top Jensen Ackles, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-29 00:36:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 33,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16733670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunter_king/pseuds/hunter_king
Summary: Jared knows he’s a slave. It doesn't matter if his Master Jeffrey keeps him in luxury, or the presents Jeffrey lavishes him. For Jared his freedom has always been more value than any money but he has never had the choice. Jared has spent his life as a slave, in one form or another. Jared knows he can never leave, because no one leaves Jeffrey, unless it’s in a body bag. How do you escape a crime lord who owns the country? Jensen also dreams of escape. To the world he’s Jen Ross - Morgan’s loyal ‘Right Hand Man.' He has a tattoo for every sin, scars that tell stories and can strike terror into the hearts of men with a look. But to a select few, he's still Jensen Ross Ackles - undercover FBI agent. He’s seen terrible things, done worse but knows his downfall will be Jared - Morgan's gorgeous 'pet'/slave who the bastard smugly parades round. Jared will break him long before Morgan can. Jared will break him because from the second he met Jared, he fell in love with him. Jensen knows taking Jared will sign Jared's death warrant quicker than anything. So what do they do?





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt fill for Imogen_lily  
> Written for the second cycle at spn_illuminated  
> Beta'd by novakev  
> Art by Imogen_lily ([here](https://imogen-lily.livejournal.com/76197.html))

Jared frowned as he pressed his forehead against the shower wall, allowing the hot water to beat down on his aching muscles, the steam rising into the air calming him down. He’d been having a rough couple of weeks and these were the moments when he could finally relax and not have to worry about anything. After all, he had a lot to worry about being the sex slave of Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the largest and most powerful crime lord in Los Angeles. Sometimes, Jared wonders how he allowed this to happen to himself, but his answers are never any good. He knew exactly why he was here and why he continued to stay here – his brother, Misha. Jeffrey had threatened to kill Misha, and staying here to be Jeffrey’s lover was the only way Jared could keep Misha safe.

Honestly, Jared didn’t even remember what Misha had done to get on Jeffrey’s bad side anymore. After six years, it was kind of hard to remember all of the details. Jared remembered that he had come here to be an actor, though that didn’t really work out, and he’d ended up working at one of Jeffrey’s clubs waiting tables and getting drinks for high-class, rich douchebags who were too touchy and smelled of cheap sex and booze. 

Except Jeffrey hadn’t been like that. Jeffrey had been confident and almost arrogant – sexy in a way. He had come into the bar every night to see Jared for almost two months before Jared finally agreed to go on a date with him when he had a night off. Jared had gone on the date, Jeffrey had gotten him drunk, and they’d had sex. The morning after was horrible. Not only did Jared have a hangover, but he realized just how obsessed Jeffrey had actually gotten with him over the last couple of months. Jeffrey had demanded that Jared quit his job at the bar and come live with him, but Jared had refused. When Jared tried to leave, Jeffrey threatened his brother – that’s how Jared had gotten where he is today.

Now, Jeffrey was on one of his notorious business trips, which meant Jared had a little time for himself. Sure, he was still cooped up in the house unless someone in Jeffrey’s immediate circle were willing to go somewhere with him, but Jared could at least relax. Most of the people here while Jeffrey was on business trips were pretty laid back and they understood Jared. They let Jared act like himself for the most part and they hardly ever bothered him like some of the people in Jeffrey’s “inner circle,” as he called them, did. Jared actually hated almost everyone in the inner circle; especially Mark Pellegrino and Frederic Lehne. Those two took care of all the dirty work Jeffrey needed done – basically, they were hitmen, and they got off on it. Jared found them to be sadistic and crude, and they loved their job descriptions a little too much, as far as Jared was concerned. 

After he had finished rinsing the conditioner out of his hair, the water was getting a little chilly, so Jared decided to get out of the shower. He was a little hungry, anyway, and he knew since it was nearly nine in the morning, Samantha was probably already making breakfast. She was Jeffrey’s personal chef as well as his housekeeper, and she was like a mother to Jared. He loved it when Jeffrey was away because she would always make Jared pancakes shaped like various things, which were great. Sure, Jared may have been twenty-three, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t like his pancakes to be shaped funny. Well, at least Jared didn’t see anything wrong with it – Jeffrey hated it when Samantha gave into Jared’s wants like he was a child. 

Once he was dressed in a dark maroon hoodie, a gray Henley, and a pair of baggy faded blue jeans with holes in the knees – an outfit that he would never be allowed to wear if Jeffrey was home – Jared ran down the stairs to see what Samantha was making for breakfast. He nearly ran over Sebastian, Jeffrey’s butler, on the way down, the young man quickly apologizing for his rudeness. Of course, Sebastian was about as laid back as the kids who used to hang out in the stoner pit at Jared’s high school, so Sebastian just told him that it was no big deal and sent Jared on his way.

As soon as he was in the kitchen, the smell of pancakes wafted over him, causing Jared to smile widely. “Good morning, Samantha,” he greeted, leaning in to press a kiss to the older woman’s cheek. He glanced into the pan she was making the pancakes in and smiled when they were shaped like stars. “Mmm…thank you for making me pancakes shaped like stars,” he smiled, moving around the breakfast bar and taking a seat facing her so they could talk. 

“You’re welcome, sweetie,” Samantha smiled, taking a plate out of the cupboard and forking two pancakes onto the plate before sitting it in front of Jared. “And here’s the syrup. Just try not to make a mess.” She smiled wider when Jared rolled his eyes and chuckled. Sure, she treated him like a child sometimes, but that didn’t mean she thought he was childish. She was just teasing him. If anything, Jared was mature beyond his years. “So, do you have any plans today, sweetheart?” she asked, bringing a plate of pancakes to the breakfast bar for anyone else who wanted them before taking one for herself and sitting across from Jared.

Before Jared could answer Samantha, Jensen Ross walked into the room, causing Jared to go very quiet. There was something off about Jensen – Jared didn’t like it. He was actually afraid of Jensen, though at the same time, he felt himself drawn to the older man. Jensen was Jeffrey’s right hand man, and Jared thought for sure he would have been on the trip with Jeffrey. Apparently, Jeffrey had only taken Frederic and Mark this time around. Basically, Jensen was an enforcer for Jeffrey. He made sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing, and if they weren’t Jensen was expected to dish out the proper punishments. Of course, Jensen had never been mean to Jared, but he just had this scary persona about him. And he was also famous around the crew for being merciless if crossed, his iron-clad control, and for having the ability to plan ahead.

Maybe it had something to do with Jensen being the body guard, or maybe it was the tattoos – whatever the case, Jared had mixed feelings about the older man. So when Jensen took a seat right next to him, Jared found it kind of hard to breathe, the young man looking at Samantha for a moment before he curled in on himself and started eating his pancakes in silence. Jared just never knew how to act when he was around Jensen – he was always worried that he’d say something wrong and it would get back to Jeffrey and there would be consequences. After all, Jensen was always around Jeffrey and he was always told all of the plans. As far as Jared knew, Jensen was Jeffrey’s closest friend.

Still, Jared noticed from the second Jensen became part of the inner circle that he was different than the others. Jensen had so much more control than everyone else, and he didn’t seem to attack people for no reason. Most of the other inner circle members attacked people just for the hell of it, but Jensen only hurt someone if he thought they deserved it. And he always had proof that the target deserved the beating he was getting. Jared was sure that had something to do with the fact that he was attracted to him. Well, that and Jensen’s gorgeous body. And those lips – damn, they were so perfect. Sometimes, when he was alone, Jared would fantasize about those lips sliding over every inch of his body. Of course, Jared wouldn’t tell anyone that because it was only a fantasy, and it was going to stay that way.

Samantha rolled her eyes at Jared’s behavior around Jensen, grabbing another plate and putting two pancakes on it before sitting it in front of Jensen. “How are you doing today, sweetie?” Samantha asked Jensen, giving him a fork and sitting the syrup in front of him. Unlike most of the people here, including people in the inner circle, Jensen didn’t scare Samantha. Actually, she treated him much like she did Jared, and they got along very well. She didn’t understand why Jared was so scared of him when Jensen was nothing but nice to him, though she never really thought to ask. After all, she promised Jensen that she would keep the secret he let slip one morning about his feelings for Jared, so she wasn’t going to push the younger man into seeing Jensen for the big softy he really was.

He instantly realized the change in Jared’s behavior when he walked into the room, but Jensen kept his emotions to himself. “I’m fine, thank you,” he smiled, chuckling at the shape of the pancakes before digging in. Jensen needed to keep his emotions reigned in around Jared because it was too dangerous for the both of them for Jared to know how he really felt. If Jeffrey ever found out that Jensen was in love with Jared, the consequences could be dire. And Jensen wasn’t willing to put not only Jared in danger, but also this operation because he couldn’t keep it in his pants.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t be nice to Jared. “So…do you have any plans for today, Jared?” Jensen asked, wanting to know the answer to Samantha’s question from before Jensen had walked into the room and made Jared shrink into his silent, scared persona he used around Jeffrey’s henchmen. Jensen really hated it that Jared thought he had to be afraid of him, but sometimes he thought that maybe it was for the best. After all, if Jared was afraid of him, Jensen wouldn’t have to worry about his feelings putting Jared in danger.

When Jared realized that Jensen was talking to him, he nearly fell out of his chair he was so shocked. “Um…I don’t-I don’t know,” he answered with a small shrug. He had been planning on asking Matt, the chauffer, if he would take him to the grocery store and maybe a few clothing stores. And he also wanted to see Misha today, but it was just a thought. After all, Jared would need to be accompanied by someone who Jeffrey trusted if he was going to leave the house. Jeffrey didn’t trust Jared to be out on his own because he was worried Jared would try to escape. But Jared had learned his lesson the last time he tried to escape; Jeffrey had broken Matt’s arm and threatened to have Misha killed if he ever tried to leave again, so Jared knew he was stuck here. 

Although it wasn’t the answer he had been expecting, Jensen was just surprised that Jared had said more than three words to him. Usually, their conversations consisted of Jared answering his question with a one-word response and then Jared running off like a scared little mouse. And Jared was still sitting in his stool, so that was another plus as far as Jensen was concerned. His eyes ticked up to Samantha briefly before he turned his attention back to Jared. “Well, I was thinking about heading out for a few hours if you had anywhere you wanted to go. I mean…it’s been a while since you’ve seen your brother, right? I can go with you to meet him somewhere.”

At the suggestion of going to see Misha, Jared’s mood immediately brightened, the younger man flashing Jensen a wide smile, dimples denting his cheeks before he realized that he was getting too excited about this. “Um…y-yeah, that’d be great,” Jared answered, taking a sip of his orange juice. “I already took a shower, so I can be ready whenever you’re ready,” he explained, his eyes briefly ticking up to Jensen’s before returning to his plate. Jeffrey didn’t like it when he looked people straight in the eye, so Jared had to remember to not do it when Jeffrey wasn’t around so he didn’t slip up when Jeffrey was around. “I just…have to text Misha and give him a place to meet me.”

A wide smile came to Jensen’s lips when Jared agreed to go with him, the older man giving his head a small nod. “All right, great,” he smiled. “I guess we can go around noon? Does that sound good?” When Jared nodded, Jensen smiled wider before he caught himself, clearing his throat slightly and turning his attention to his plate. “Tell Misha to meet you at the _Carribean Café_ at one o’clock,” he ordered, taking another bite of his breakfast. “And make sure you get changed. If I take you out looking like that, JD will ream my ass.” Personally, Jensen loved it when Jared walked around in normal “street clothes” as Jensen would call them, but Jeffrey had an image to keep and Jensen had to go along with it for as long as he was in the inner circle.

Jared didn’t waste any time once he was finished with his breakfast, texting Misha and letting him know that Jensen was going to let them meet today at one. Luckily, Misha knew that Jeffrey was out of town this week, so Misha hadn’t made any plans because he had been hoping to meet with Jared as well. Once he was off the phone with his brother, Jared quickly stripped out of his clothes and found some more appropriate clothes to wear. Nothing too fancy because he didn’t want to stick out too much, but it was enough to make Jeffrey’s appearance still hold up. A simple, baby blue button down shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans that hugged his crotch and ass just the way Jeffrey liked them to. He then moved to the bathroom where he tried to fix the mop on top of his head so it looked at least like he hadn’t just rolled out of bed and left it like that.

“He’s afraid of me,” Jensen sighed as he helped Samantha put the dishes in the dishwasher. Honestly, that was probably for the best, but that didn’t mean Jensen had to like it. He didn’t want Jared to be afraid of him just because everyone else was – Jensen was actually nothing like the man he portrayed himself to be while in Jeffrey’s mansion, and sometimes he just wished he could show Jared the real him. To everyone he surrounded himself with these days, he was Jensen Ross, the merciless right hand man who worked for Jeffrey Dean Morgan – but in real life, he was Jensen Ross Ackles, FBI agent of seven years who had gone undercover to catch the bad guy. He had never been undercover this long before, though and it was really taking its toll on him. Especially since he had feelings for Jared; it was messing with his head.

Sighing, Samantha slapped Jensen on the arm, giving her head a small shake. “Don’t be so menacing around him then, ya moron,” she chastised, giving Jensen a small glare when he feigned innocence. “Maybe you should smile at him a little more often. The minute you started smiling at him, you stopped and went right back to your scary self. Just…take today as an opportunity, Jensen. Let him know that you’re not as scary as everyone thinks you are and that you can actually be a very nice, caring young man.”

Slowly, Jensen shook his head, closing the dishwasher and starting it. “No, I can’t,” he protested. “It’s safer for both of us this way.” Sighing, Jensen leaned back against the counter, glancing towards Jared’s bedroom. “If JD ever finds out about my feelings for Jared, I’m outta here – probably in a body bag. And if Jared feels anything other than fear for me, he’ll get punished for his feelings too, and I can’t let that happen.” He turned his body towards Samantha once more, giving her a small, sad smile. “It’s better for both of us if I just keep my mouth shut. If anything happened to him because of me, I’d never be able to forgive myself.”

Everything Jensen was saying was spot on, but that didn’t mean Samantha had to like it. “Well, no one said you had to make your relationship public. You and Jared could keep it a secret and no one would be the wiser.” Smiling, she placed her hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort the younger man. “There are people here who hate JD just as much as you do. And we’d all help you and Jared maintain a secret relationship until the two of you could get away from here.” She shrugged as he started out of the kitchen, turning to Jensen one last time. “It’s just something to think about while you and Jared are spending some time together.”

With that, Samantha left the room, leaving Jensen alone to his thoughts. She posed an interesting idea. And Jensen knew that Sebastian and Matt would also help him and Jared if it came to that because they hated JD almost as much as Jensen did. Then again, by them helping Jensen and Jared carry on a secret relationship, they could be put in danger, which wasn’t something he wanted to happen. Besides, he didn’t even think Jared liked him, so why was he worried about this right now. All he wanted to do was spend some time with Jared, even if Jared thought he was a scary henchman, or something. At least he still had the chance to be around Jared.

About an hour later, Jensen and Jared were in the car, Matt driving them towards one of the high-end clothing stores that Jeffrey always took Jared to when he needed new clothes. Jared had one of Jeffrey’s credit cards, so he knew he could buy whatever he wanted at the store, though he was going to limit himself to the essentials. It had actually been Jensen’s idea for them to go shopping for clothes because Jeffrey was having another one of his parties, and Jared needed to look nice. One of those stupid rules that Jeffrey implemented. As far as Jensen was concerned, Jared could wear a burlap sack and he would be hot.

A wide smile came to Jensen’s lips when Jared tossed his bags of new clothes into the trunk. Jared looked very happy because not only had he gotten clothes Jeffrey would approve of, but Jensen had even bought him a few new street clothes to wear when Jeffrey wasn’t around. Of course, Jared had protested at first, but he eventually gave in. Jensen was really starting to think that Jared was at least warming up to him a little bit. And really, that shouldn’t have made him as happy as it did, but he couldn’t help it – he was attracted to Jared and there was nothing that was going to change that, so he figured he might as well just go with it. He’d been hiding his feelings for too long and it was time to make a move in the near future. Nothing too major, but something subtle wouldn’t hurt.

As soon as the doors closed, Matt started driving towards the café where Jared and Misha were supposed to meet. That smile on Jared’s lips grew wider, his dimples denting his cheeks, and Jensen thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The café wasn’t really that far away, so they were there in a few minutes, Jared quickly throwing the door open and running out of the car towards his brother. When he reached Misha, Jared threw his arms around him and laughed, obviously glad to see his brother. Jensen knew they were very close, and Jared being with Jeffrey caused them to not see each other a lot, so he knew what he had to do in order to let Jared have a little privacy. 

Moving towards the two men slowly, not in any big hurry to break up the greeting, Jensen gave Misha a small nod as if to say hello. “Jared, I’m going to have Matt take me to run some more errands,” he explained, knowing that it wasn’t what he was supposed to do, but not really giving a damn. “If you need anything, call my cell phone – I always have it on me.” Before he turned to leave, Jensen pointed at Jared and warned, “Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”

When Jensen told him that he was leaving him here alone, Jared’s eyes widened slightly, his head shaking a bit. “But…I’m not…allowed to be out alone,” he explained, not wanting to get himself or Jensen in trouble. Of course, he was only with Misha, so he wasn’t going to get himself in trouble, but if this got back to Jeffrey, they would both be in hot water. And with Jeffrey, getting on his bad side was not something that most people survived. Jared had actually had to beg for Misha’s life when he and Jeffrey had gotten into a huge fight, and then he’d actually had to go as far as to distract Jeffrey with sex. It was a routine, actually – Jared knew that if he begged for a person’s life and then had sex with Jeffrey to get his mind off the kill, the target was usually safe. Still, Jeffrey and Misha hated each other, so Jared was sure that if he wasn’t careful, his brother could be in danger.

“Jared, don’t worry about it,” Jensen smiled, just barely resisting the urge to cup Jared’s cheek and brush that worried look off his face with his thumb. “I’ll be back before you know it. And no one associated with Jeffrey comes down into this part of town unless there’s business here, which I happen to know there isn’t for the next few weeks.” Smiling wider, Jensen assured Jared, “Everything’s gonna be fine. Now, enjoy your quality time with your brother and I’ll be back once I’m done. I’ll only be about a half an hour, all right? I’ll make it quick.”

Although he still wasn’t too sure about this, Jared nodded, licking his lips before he gave Jensen a small smile. He had never been allowed to be with Mish alone before now, and he was actually kind of looking forward to it. Once Jensen was back in the car, Misha led Jared to the table he’d already gotten for them and they quickly struck up a conversation. They hadn’t seen each other in almost a month, so there was a lot to talk about. “So…which one was that?” Misha asked, motioning towards the parking space where the SUV had been. “He seems…different than the others.”

Slowly, Jared nodded before taking a sip from his cappuccino. “Y-Yeah, he is,” he explained, his eyes downcast as if he were staring at something on the table that Misha couldn’t see. “His name’s Jensen Ross. He’s, um…part of JD’s inner circle. I don’t…really know a lot about him.” And Jared honestly didn’t. A lot of people didn’t know anything about Jensen – he was a mystery, and Jared sometimes wondered if that was another reason he was so drawn to him. After all, Jared loved a good mystery. “People say a lot of things in the house, but I don’t know how much of it is actually truth and what’s fiction. I mean, Danneel and Genevieve are kind of known for their gossip.”

It was obvious that his little brother didn’t want to talk about this, so Misha quickly changed the subject. His fingers closed around the silver pendant on Jared’s neck as a small smile came to his lips. “I can’t believe you’re still wearing this,” he mused, pulling the locket open to reveal a picture of their parents on one side and a picture of three-year old Jared riding piggyback on fifteen-year old Misha’s back. It was one of the last pictures that had been taken before their parents died – when they were still living in Poland. Misha had brought them here to live with a friend a few weeks after their parents’ accident and then claimed Jared as his dependent when he finally turned eighteen. Jared was still so young – it broke Misha’s heart to know that Jared wouldn’t grow up with his parents. Misha did his best to raise his little brother, but it wasn’t perfect – there were instances in school with Jared being bullied and there was a stage where Jared had been very depressed before he was introduced to theater by one of his teachers. It had gotten better after that.

His attention snapped down to his pendant when Misha touched it, Jared frowning softly at his brother’s words. “I wouldn’t let JD make me take this off,” he explained, remembering the day Jeffrey had tried to take the necklace away from him. He’d begged Jeffrey to let him keep it, and after he’d started crying, Jeffrey finally agreed. Jared refused to tell Jeffrey where he had gotten it and the story behind it, and eventually, Jeffrey just stopped asking. The pendant wasn’t really an issue in their lives anymore. “So…h-how have you been?”

Releasing the necklace, Misha slowly leaned back in his chair, giving a small shrug. “I don’t know – all right, I guess,” he answered. “I miss you, though. Work’s boring and everyone’s eager to know things about the new guy – his family, friends, what’s he do for a living. But I don’t want to let them know anything about me because they’re not my friends.” Misha had gotten a job at a law firm a few months ago and Jared thought he had been happy; apparently, that wasn’t the case anymore. “But it’s nothing compared to what you’ve been going through, I guess. I mean, are you even allowed to have any fun?”

Jared frowned when Misha asked if he was allowed to have fun, giving a small nod. “Yeah, I have fun all of the time,” he lied. “Just yesterday I went out to the lake and swam for hours. It was very peaceful.” But it wasn’t exactly fun. Jared wasn’t even sure if he knew what fun was anymore. The only time he was ever allowed to do anything for himself was when Jeffrey was away and even then, Jared was too scared to go wild because he was always worried it would get back to Jeffrey. So maybe he wasn’t allowed to have any fun – he wasn’t even sure anymore.

At Jared’s idea of fun, Misha simply chuckled as he shook his head. “Yeah, that sounds exhilarating,” he teased. “You know what, there’s a party tonight at a club downtown and I want you to come with me.” Quickly, he grabbed Jared’s napkin and jotted down the name of the club, an address, and a time for him to be there before shoving it into Jared’s hand. “Meet me there tonight and I’ll remind you what it’s like to have fun, little brother.” He could see the apprehension in Jared’s face, so he put on his pleading sapphire blue eyes and gave his head a small tilt, begging his brother silently to come with him. “It’ll be fun, I promise. And I don’t want to go alone.”

How could Jared resist Misha’s face when he was looking at him like that? After all, he had learned his puppy pleading face from Misha, who he considered the best. “All right, fine, I’ll be there,” he agreed, not worrying about _how_ he was going to get there yet. He was sure he’d figure something out before the end of the night. And if not, then he would just text Misha and tell him that it was too dangerous. At least then he could say that he tried, and Misha would understand. Jared was hoping. “So, what’s this party about? Tell me everything I need to know.”

They spoke for a few more minutes about the party until Jensen arrived, Jared offering him to have a seat while he and Misha finished their drinks. About two hours later, Jared was climbing into the car and waving good bye to his brother, the younger man finally starting to get all nervous about the party he’d promised to be at later that night. Jensen must have noticed because he soon asked Jared what was wrong. “Um…n-nothing,” he explained, giving his head a small shake. “It’s just…I promised Misha that I would go to a party with him tonight, and I don’t think I can make it. But I don’t want to disappoint him, so I don’t know what to do.” Frowning, Jared pulled his cell phone from his pocket, quickly shaking his head. “I’m just going to text him and tell him that I made a mistake and I have plans for later tonight.”

Before Jared could even open his text messages, Jensen took the phone from him, laying it on the armrest beside Matt. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he muttered with a small shake of his head. “JD didn’t say anything about you not being able to have fun while he’s gone. Give me the address. I’ll take you, that way you’re not breaking any rules and you can still hang out with your brother.” This was risky, but Jensen didn’t care. Jared really looked like he was stressing about this, and Jensen saw no reason why the younger man couldn’t go see his brother later tonight as long as he was accompanied by someone in Jeffrey’s inner circle.

When Jensen offered to take him, Jared smiled widely, turning towards Jensen in the seat and asking, “Really? You’ll take me?” He was so excited when Jensen nodded that he didn’t even think before he wrapped his arms around the older man and hugged him. However, when Jared realized what he was doing, he quickly pulled back, reaching into his coat pocket as he cleared his throat and handing Jensen the napkin Misha had written on. “That’s…everything you need to know about the party,” he explained, biting into his lip as he focused on the floor again. “Thank you…for doing this for me.”

Because the café wasn’t far from the mansion, they were home before Jensen could answer Jared, and Jared bolted from the car as soon as it came to a stop, disappearing through the door. “You’re playing with fire, Jensen,” Matt explained, glancing at the other man through the rear-view window. “I know you like the kid, but if you overstep your boundaries, Morgan will take your privileges away. And then what are you going to do?”

He knew Matt was right, but how could he stop now? Jared had hugged him, which he was taking as progress. It was great news and he couldn’t just ignore it. “I know what I’m doing, Matt,” he lied, pushing his own door open and heading into the mansion. Jared was nowhere to be seen, not that he thought he would be, so Jensen went to his own room, grabbing his work phone and shooting a text message to his buddy Christian Kane. They needed to meet tonight, which was sooner than the scheduled meeting, but he had information that he needed to share with the team. Plus, a little back-up at this party tonight wouldn’t hurt anyone as far as Jensen was concerned. Once he got the confirmation text message that a meeting had been set up, Jensen tossed the phone into the drawer where he kept it hidden and flopped down onto the bed, trying to analyze that hug in the car.


	2. Chapter Two

Jensen made sure to check every inch of his body as well as the roads and alleys near the warehouse he and his team were meeting in before he walked through the doors. Jeffrey was known for bugging people and tapping wires to make sure no one double-crossed him. The man had some real trust issues, but Jensen was pretty confident that he had gotten the older man to trust him. After all, he was in the inner circle now, which had to account for something, right? Jensen thought so, anyway. Once he was inside, he quickly closed the doors before jogging to the second set of doors and pushing them open, smiling when he saw his team for the first time in three weeks.

As soon as they could see him, his team smiled widely as well, Sandy, Sophia, and Katie even running to give him a big hug in greeting. “Ugh…” he groaned when they all collided with him and wrapped their arms around him. “Can’t…breathe,” he complained, sighing dramatically when they finally let go. “Geez, you just saw me three weeks ago,” he chuckled as he walked with them to the small couches they had all been lounging on. Sure, three weeks sounded like a long time, but when someone was undercover, it was about the equivalent of a week. Seeing someone who was undercover more than once a month was practically a miracle.

“Well, you know that we worry about you, dummy,” Katie explained as she plopped in the chair next to Mike, smiling at Jensen when he rolled his eyes at her. “What? Christian and Jim are the only two who get to talk to you unless we’re at a meeting. And do you think they let us know that you’re alive? No, they don’t. So for all we know, you could be lying in a ditch somewhere dead and Christian and Jim wouldn’t tell us.”

When Katie went on about how they weren’t told anything, Jim rolled his eyes. “If he were dead, we’d let you know,” he assured the young woman. “But since he ain’t, we don’t worry about it. Now, can we please get down to business here?” Jim had been the Sergeant of the bureau for almost eight years, and he had been the one to put Jensen on this case. Jeffrey Dean Morgan had been a person of interest to the FBI for over ten years and they weren’t making any headway on the case because Morgan was powerful. He ran a crime empire – drugs, prostitution rings, loan-sharking – anything illegal he could get his nose in, he was running it. The problem was that he would always use casinos, clubs, and bars as a legal cover for his crimes. And when someone was on to him, Morgan would always find a way to blackmail or bribe the officer into keeping his mouth shut.

For years, Jeffrey had been trying to find dirt on Jim Beaver, but there was nothing he could use to blackmail him. And Jim wasn’t the kind of agent to take bribes from scum like Jeffrey Dean Morgan. This made Jim one of the few people who were not afraid to pursue Jeffrey Dean Morgan and expose him for the crime lord he is. Unfortunately, that also put a target on his back, and Jeffrey had tried to have him killed on multiple occasions. It had gotten so bad one year that Jim had to go into hiding for two and half months before the threats and attacks died down and he was able to resume his position on the team. He had been starting to lose hope that anyone was ever going to be able to catch Morgan.

But the year after he was appointed Sergeant, his prayers were answered. Jensen Ross Ackles had been hired into the bureau and Jim knew right from the start that he was going to be the man who could bring Morgan crashing to his knees. He had served in the Marine Corps before coming to the bureau, so Jim knew that he was trained well. Also, Jensen didn’t mind going undercover, so Jim put him on a few odd jobs here and there to make sure he could handle it – Jensen had passed with flying colors and Jim put him on Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s case. That had been six years ago, and they were still trying to get the case closed. “So, why did you want to meet us here like this?” Jim asked, worried that Jensen may need to be pulled from the case, or something. 

When Jim addressed him, Jensen straightened up, knowing that it was rude to slouch when talking to your superior. “Jared has been invited to a party tonight at a club called _Sapphire_ by his brother,” Jensen explained. “He really wants to go, so I’ve offered to take him, that way he’s not breaking any of Morgan’s rules. But I think you guys should be there as back up. Maybe not all of you, but some of you just in case. If something happens to Jared tonight, Morgan will have my ass and we’ll never get anywhere with this case.”

A small frown came to Christian’s lips when Jensen spoke, the older man giving his head a small shake. “Why would something happen to Jared?” he asked, obviously confused. “I mean, I’ve heard of the club, and it’s pretty skanky, but if you’re there, how could something happen?” Christian had no problem accompanying Jensen to the club to watch his back, but he was just a little confused about how something would happen. “Are you planning on not watching the kid?”

Rolling his eyes, Jensen turned his attention to his partner and best friend. “Of course I’m going to be watching him,” Jensen assured him, a small glare shot in his buddy’s direction. “But I can’t have my eyes on him every second, so I just figured having more eyes on him was safer.” Slowly, Jensen leaned back in his chair, shrugging slightly. “Fine, if no one wants to go with me, then that’s fine. If something happens to Jared, then this operation will officially be a bust.”

“You’re going,” Jim ordered Christian, frowning at the younger agent. “And Sandy, I want you to go with him. The two of you can come up with a story later, but you’re going to be at that party.” With that, Jim stood, ready to leave the warehouse. They had been here too long already. Someone was going to start wondering where Jensen was and this operation could be in danger. Before he left however, he turned towards Christian and added, “And don’t look like an FBI agent when you go in there, Kane. I’m sure you have _something_ other than a suit that you can wear to a club.”

**~~**

Jared raced down the stairs as he read the text message Misha had just sent him, barreling right into Jensen as the older man walked into the house, the force of his body hitting the door making it slam closed as they both grunted in a mixture of pain and surprise. He nearly had a heart attack as he pushed himself off Jensen, head snapping down so that he was staring at the floor. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” Jared apologized, giving his head a small shake. “I wasn’t watching where I was going and I didn’t see you, and then everything just – I’m _so_ sorry!”

Quickly, Jensen shook his head, hands going up in a position as if he were surrendering in an attempt to calm Jared down. It looked like Jared was close to hyperventilating and he wasn’t even looking at Jensen, so Jared couldn’t see him. “Jared,” he started, his hands coming down on Jared’s shoulders before quickly pulling back when Jared jumped. “Hey, don’t worry about it,” he explained, licking his lips when Jared finally looked at him. “It’s fine. No harm done.” He smiled softly when Jared finally started to calm down, his eyes ticking to Jared’s cell phone before he looked back up at Jared’s face. “So…something important, or do you just like running people over?” he teased, nodding towards the phone to let the younger man know what he was talking about. 

His head hung a little at Jensen’s question before Jared gave a small shrug. “Misha just wanted to meet for dinner before we went to the club,” he explained. “I told him that I’d ask if it was all right, but if you don’t want to go, then it’s fine. I’ll just tell him that I can’t make it and I’ll just meet him at the club.” Jared really wanted to go out and eat with his brother, but he wasn’t willing to make Jensen mad to do so.

He wished that Jared would gain a little confidence, though Jensen was sure it probably wasn’t going to happen. At least not as long as Jared was with Jeffrey. Sometimes, Jensen thought of ways he could get Jared away from Jeffrey, but he knew that it would never happen. There was no way it _could_ happen as long as Jensen was on this case. And even then, Jared was afraid of him, so Jensen really didn’t have high hopes then either. “Jared, it’s fine,” he assured the younger man. “Let Misha know that you can meet him. Have him give you a location and a time, and I’ll make sure you get there.”

A wide smile came to Jared’s lips when Jensen assured him that they could go to dinner. “Okay, I’ll tell him,” Jared said, shooting his brother a text message to let him know they were on for tonight and asking where and when he wanted to meet. A few seconds later, he was given an address and a time; seven o’clock. “Um…he wants to meet at seven at a little restaurant beside the club. It’s called _Moondropz_.” Quickly, Jared glanced at his phone and realized that it was already five o’clock. “I should get ready,” he explained softly, his voice barely above a whisper as he turned and headed back up the stairs, looking down at Jensen briefly with a smile before he ran the rest of the way up. 

About an hour later, Jared and Jensen were in the back seat of Matt’s SUV driving towards the restaurant where they were meeting Misha. Jared seemed nervous, fidgeting with his cell phone the entire ride there and then fidgeting with his jacket once they were inside the place. “Are you all right?” Jensen asked softly as they waited for Misha to show up. He frowned when Jared merely nodded because he knew there was something else on the younger man’s mind and he wanted to know what it was. “You can tell me if something’s bothering you, Jared,” he assured him with a small nod. “I won’t tell anyone else if you don’t want me to.”

Again, Jared shook his head, not wanting to tell Jensen what was on his mind. It was fine when they weren’t the only two around, but sometimes when they were alone, Jared just couldn’t handle it. He didn’t understand why he was so attracted to Jensen, and he didn’t want to think about it, either. The older man could be so nice to him, but Jared couldn’t ignore the rumors about how awful Jensen was that went around, either. And really, he didn’t even know why he was thinking about this because there was no way he was ever getting away from Jeffrey, so this whole point – well, more like fantasy – of running away with Jensen was moot. 

Before Jensen had a chance to address it any further, Misha finally showed up and the hostess showed them to their table. Dinner was actually a lot more fun than Jensen thought it was going to be. Listening to Jared and Misha chatter on about their lives just made Jensen wish that he could get back to his. Alona, his little sister, was worried sick about him because he had been undercover for so long and he wanted to see her. But it was too dangerous to visit while he was supposed to be Jensen Ross, so they chatted on the phone when he was sure that it was safe. Still, that was nothing like seeing her as far as he was concerned.

When dinner was over, they all walked to the club, Misha chatting about how awesome this party was going to be. The lights in the club were all turned down and there were blue disco balls creating a mood for the dancers on the floor. Misha quickly grabbed Jared’s arm and tugged him close to his body as he pleaded, “Come dance with me, Jay!” Of course, Jared didn’t move until Jensen nodded to let him know it was all right, which seemed to make Misha very happy. Jensen kept his eyes on Jared as long as he could before the younger male was too far into the crowd and he could no longer see him. Christian and Sandy were on the dance floor as well, so Jensen trusted that they would keep an eye on the younger man as he moved towards the bar, ordering himself a drink. 

It wasn’t long before Misha was dancing over to the bar with Jared close behind. “We’ll have two alcoholic beverages, please?” Misha explained to the bartender, chuckling when he asked what they wanted. “Well, I’ll have a beer and my brother here will have a banana daiquiri.” He chuckled once more when Jared rolled his eyes at the drink he was being given, but he took it anyway, downing it in one go. “I guess we’ll have another one of those,” Misha explained with a smile, tossing down a few bills onto the countertop and taking the drink once it was given to them. “Jensen, why don’t you come dance with us?”

“Oh, no thanks – I don’t dance,” Jensen explained, quickly shaking his head. “I’m good right here. You guys go have fun. Just…come get me when you’re ready to leave.” Jensen didn’t have any plans for the next day that he knew of, so he didn’t care how long they stayed out. Of course, he was going to draw the line at getting home late in the afternoon tomorrow, but he didn’t think this club was open twenty-four hours, so they were good there. 

Although Misha seemed a little disappointed that Jensen wasn’t dancing with them, he led Jared back out onto the dance floor and started dancing again, his eyes on Jensen as the other man ordered another drink. “So, what’s the deal with this guy?” Misha asked, head nodding towards Jensen so Jared knew who he was talking about. “He doesn’t watch you like the other guys do. It seems like he doesn’t even care what you do.”

Jared’s eyes ticked over to Jensen when Misha asked about him, the younger man giving a small shrug. “I don’t know,” he answered, eyes moving to the floor before he looked up at Misha again. “That’s just how Jensen is. He doesn’t really care what I do as long as I’m not getting into trouble.” He looked over at Jensen again as a small smile came to his lips. When he realized that he was staring, however, Jared quickly looked away, frowning at Misha when he started laughing. “What?” he asked, clearly oblivious to what his brother thought was so funny.

Still laughing, Misha explained, “You totally have the hots for him!” When Jared seemed startled by the assumption, Misha only laughed harder before he continued, “Oh, don’t act like you don’t! I can see it all over your face because of the way you’re looking at him, Jay.” Jared’s silence let Misha know that he was right, a small smile coming to his lips. “Why don’t you ditch Morgan and go out with him?!” Misha exclaimed, slapping Jared on the arm. “He’s so much hotter than Morgan and he doesn’t seem like a control freak. This guy’s a total catch!”

Quickly, Jared shook his head, knowing that it could never work between him and Jensen. “JD would never let me go,” Jared explained with another small shake of his head. “And besides, Jensen probably doesn’t even think of me that way. I’m just a job to him. JD says watch me, and he does. I’m surprised he even knows my name.” Sure, that was a little extreme – Jared sometimes thought Jensen might actually like him – but he needed to get the idea out of his brother’s head. Hell, he needed to get the idea out of _his_ head. There was no way Jensen wanted him like that. “Can we just drop it, please? It doesn’t matter what I feel for him because nothing can ever happen.”

Three and a half hours later, Misha was all but carrying his little brother back to the bar, handing him off to Jensen with a small smile on his lips. “Jared may have had a little too much to drink tonight,” he explained with a small chuckle, turning on his heel and searching for the exit. “I think we should go home now,” he mumbled, motioning for Jensen to follow him to the doors. Once they were outside, Misha climbed into his car, assuring Jensen that he was fine to drive before he was taking off. Jared was too drunk to even realize what was happening around him, so Misha didn’t even bother to say good bye. He’d text him tomorrow and see how he was feeling.

It was obvious that Jared had consumed more alcohol than he should have as Jensen practically carried the younger man towards the SUV, batting Jared’s hands away from his face every time Jared tried to touch him. “Can you get us home as soon as possible?” Jensen asked Matt once they were in the car, quickly moving his head out of the way before Jared could touch him. “Stop that,” he chastised, rolling his eyes when Jared merely giggled at him like he was the funniest thing in the world.

Pushing himself up in the seat further, Jared smiled drunkenly at Jensen, giggling when his hand was batted away again. “Jensen…I drank… _a lot_ ,” Jared stated the obvious, smiling once more when Jensen assured him that he knew that already. “I think I might be drunk,” he mumbled. He mimicked Jensen’s actions as he nodded at him, licking his lips slowly before he slid down into the seat and groaned softly, pressing his forehead against Jensen’s shoulder. Jared couldn’t believe that Misha had let him drink so much – he was going to have such a headache in the morning.

But this right now was nice. His head resting against Jensen’s shoulder felt really good. And sure, Jared knew that it was taboo, but he didn’t care – he was drunk, so he didn’t care about much of anything right now. Besides, Matt and Jensen were the only two here, so he figured he was all right. Matt wasn’t going to tattle on him because he was like a little brother to Jared, and Jensen wouldn’t tell because it would put him on the chopping block as well. And Jared kind of hoped that Jensen wouldn’t tell because he kind of liked it too.

When Jared rested his head on his shoulder, Jensen felt like he couldn’t breathe. This hadn’t been the plan for the evening – he’d just wanted Jared to be able to go out and have a nice time, and now he was officially overstepping his boundaries here. If Jeffrey ever found out about this, Jensen would be in the bottom of the ocean somewhere without hesitation and he knew it. Still, that didn’t stop him from allowing Jared to stay there until they made it back to the mansion. After all, Matt wasn’t going to tell Jeffrey about this, so he wasn’t worried. 

Once they made it to the mansion, Jensen climbed out of the car first and had to almost carry Jared into the house because he was so drunk he couldn’t stand on his own two feet. “Whoa, be careful Jay, we still have to conquer those steps,” he explained with a small chuckle when Jared almost tripped over the small step leading into the mansion. Jensen had no idea how Jared was going to manage getting all the way up to his room, but he was going to have to make it work some way or another. 

It took a little while, and Jensen was practically carrying Jared the whole time, which wasn’t an easy thing to do, but they finally made it to Jared’s room, Jensen all but dropping the younger man onto the bed when they were close enough. He rolled his eyes when Jared giggled about it, making a mental note not to let Jared drink a lot when they were out again. If he would have known Jared was such a lush, he would have cut him off at two. Instead, he let Misha order drink after drink and now Jared was way past inebriated. “C’mon, let me get your shoes off,” Jensen mumbled, grabbing one of Jared’s ankles and starting to untie his sneaker. Once that one was off, he moved to do the same with the other one, tossing both shoes into the corner.

As Jensen helped Jared get onto the bed a little better so he would be more comfortable, Jared smiled at him, his hands moving to cup Jensen’s cheek before Jensen pulled away. “Why are you doing this?” Jared asked with a small pout, trying to touch Jensen again. “Please?” he whispered, quickly grabbing Jensen’s bicep and pulling him down closer so he could whisper in his ear. “I like you, Jensen,” Jared admitted with a small chuckle. “Don’t…tell anyone though because JD would be mad. But Misha made me realize it at the club. I like you. Because you’re… _very_ attractive, and you have that…mystery thing going for you.” His eyes searched Jensen’s for a minute before he leaned in and pressed a sloppy kiss to the older man’s mouth.

If he hadn’t been drunk, Jared never would have dared something like this. But in his current state, Jared really didn’t realize what he was doing until he had already done it, and by that time he was too interested in what he was doing to stop. His arm came up to wrap around Jensen’s neck when he thought the older man was going to try to stop him, Jared’s tongue slowly slipping from his mouth to trace the seam of Jensen’s lips, begging for entrance. He couldn’t help himself – Jensen tasted so good, and Jared had dreamed about doing this more than once. Plus, there was no one around, so what was the big deal? As long as Jeffrey never found out about this, everything would be fine.

Jensen’s eyes widened when Jared pressed his lips to his, the older man gasping softly in shock, which allowed Jared’s tongue the access it wanted. He knew that he should have pushed Jared away the minute he kissed him, but Jensen couldn’t find it in himself to do so. This had been a dream of Jensen’s for years and now that it was finally happening, how could he be expected to stop it? Of course, he only allowed himself to feel this pleasure for a moment before he pulled back, his breathing slightly heavier than it had been a few minutes ago. “Jared, what are you doing?” he whispered, giving his head a small shake. “We can’t…do this. If Morgan ever found out, he’d hurt you and probably kill me.”

“He doesn’t have to know,” Jared breathed softly, shaking his head as he tried to pull Jensen into another kiss. Unfortunately, Jensen wasn’t having any of it, which kind of frustrated Jared. “Please…kiss me, Jen. I could tell that you liked it, too.” He tried again, and this time Jensen was powerless to stop him, the older man giving in to his own wants for a change. A small moan escaped Jared as he pulled Jensen down onto the bed with him, his hands moving to push at Jensen’s clothes. There had been many nights when Jared lay in this bed alone and imagined what it would be like to run his hands over Jensen’s bare skin, but now that it was actually going to happen, he could barely keep himself together.

The kissing was nice, and Jared’s seeking hands had been fine too, but Jensen couldn’t let this go any further. If he allowed himself to give in too much, he would never forgive himself. Jared was drunk and this was taking advantage of him. Slowly, he pulled back, shaking his head as he climbed off the bed. “Jared, we can’t do this,” he whispered softly. “You’re drunk and you probably have no idea what you’re doing. If I let this happen, I’ll be taking advantage of you, and I can’t do that.”

Shaking his head, Jared reached for Jensen again, only to have Jensen push his hands away gently. “No, I want this, Jen, please?” he begged, pushing himself up into a seated position as he tried to pull Jensen into the bed again. Those moments may not have lasted very long, but they were the best moments Jared could remember having since he moved in with Jeffrey, and he wasn’t willing to let them go so quickly. “I know exactly what I’m doing. I know what I want – I want you, Jensen, please?”

Although Jared put up a good argument, Jensen knew better. It would have been wrong of him to take advantage of the younger man like this, and he wasn’t going to let Jared talk him into anything different. Slowly, he reached for Jared, his thumb brushing along the younger man’s cheek bone as he whispered, “Tell me that when you’re sober.” He frowned softly when Jared looked like he was going to protest, gently pushing Jared down onto the bed and pulling the blankets over him. “Get some sleep. You’ll feel better tomorrow.”

With that, Jensen left the room before Jared could try anything else, closing the door softly behind himself. This had been a strange turn of events. He had no idea what he was going to do now because Jared may have felt the same way he did and that was dangerous. Jensen couldn’t let this happen, no matter how much he wanted it. Something had to be done before this could go any further, and Jensen knew exactly what that something was.

**~~**

Jensen strode through the office, knowing this wasn’t a great idea, but he didn’t care all that much. He needed to speak with Jim and the older man wasn’t answering his calls for some reason. Pushing the door to Jim’s office open, Jensen complained, “Why haven’t you been answering my calls, Jim? I’ve been going out of my mind!” When Jim chastised him for being here, he rolled his eyes, giving his head a small shake as he interrupted. “I had to come here. I need you to pull me from this case.”

When Jim heard that Jensen wanted to be pulled from the case, he frowned. “You want me to what?” he asked, his face already getting red with anger. “You said that you could handle going undercover and I expect you to stay there until this case is closed!” There weren’t many things that pissed Jim off, but when his best agent came into his office and demanded to be taken off a case, he was allowed to get a little upset. “Do you understand that we have a chance to take Jeffrey Dean Morgan down for good? And now you want to throw it away because you don’t want to be on the case anymore? Well, the answer is no, Ackles. Now get your ass back to that mansion before someone figures out where you are.”

He had kind of figured that this wouldn’t go down too well with Jim, but Jensen wasn’t about to give up. “I’m in love with Jared,” he blurted out, not worried about what Jim might think of his sexual orientation because he already knew that Jensen was gay. “And I can’t stay in that mansion anymore with him because last night, he got drunk and he kissed me. This isn’t going to end well. My head’s not in the case anymore – I need to be pulled.” Again, he waited for the explosion that was sure to come, ready to take it in stride as long as he got pulled from the case like he wanted. Someone else could take Jeffrey down.

Honestly, Jim felt for Jensen’s situation, but there was no one else who could take on this job. Jensen had already infiltrated Jeffrey’s inner circle, and the man respected Jensen. No one else had been able to get that close and Jim wasn’t giving up this opportunity because Jensen was worried he couldn’t control himself. Jim happened to know that Jensen had just as much, if not more, control as he had and he knew Jensen could do this. “Keep it in your pants, son. Now, get back to that mansion and do your job – that’s an order.”

Frowning, Jensen nodded and left the room, upset that this hadn’t gone his way, but unwilling to disobey a direct order. This had been a bad idea anyway now that he thought about it. He couldn’t just leave Jared there alone with no one looking out for him. Sure, Jensen didn’t think Jeffrey would ever hurt Jared too severely, but there was a first time for everything. And Jeffrey was a sadistic pig, so Jensen needed to be at that mansion with Jared in order to keep him safe. Jensen was just going to have to follow Jim’s advice and make sure he kept it in his pants, as the older man had worded it.

A few desks away from where Jensen was walking, there was a man making a complaint, begging the officers for help. “You don’t understand, officer,” he explained. “My brother is being held against his will at this place, and he’s too afraid to leave. He told me yesterday that Jeffrey would never let him leave. You have to help him! Jared’s in this mess because of me!” Misha frowned when the officer explained that there was nothing they could do, the man knowing that Jensen had been assigned to this case so they couldn’t do anything until they received word from him because it could mess up the operation. 

This was ridiculous. Misha couldn’t believe that no one would help him rescue Jared. Well, if no one was going to help, then he was just going to have to do it on his own. Angrily, he stood from his chair, running right into Jensen as he turned and started to storm off. “Oh, I’m sorry,” he started, giving his head a small shake. “I wasn’t watching where I was going, and –” His rant was cut short when Misha realized who he had run into, his eyes going wide. “I know you,” he whispered, licking his lips as his brows knit in confusion. “You’re…Jensen – what are you doing here?”

It would have been tough to make up a lie about why he was here since he was dressed in a suit and tie and he didn’t have cuffs around his wrists. For a minute, Jensen actually thought he might be able to pull that off, but if Misha was anything like his brother, he wasn’t stupid. Quickly, he grabbed the older man and pulled him into his office. The place was a mess because he hadn’t been in here for a while, but he didn’t mind right now. He had other things he needed to worry about. “Misha, listen to me,” he started, pushing him into one of the chairs. “I’m not who you think I am. I’m Agent Jensen Ackles – I was assigned Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s case and I’ve been undercover there for…a while now.” Hell, Jensen didn’t even remember how long he had been there without looking at his files, honestly. 

“You’re a cop?” Misha asked, a small frown coming to his lips when Jensen nodded. He knew there was something different about Jensen the first time he saw him, but he never imagined that he was an undercover agent. Apparently, he was excellent at his job because Jensen really played the part. “Does…Jared know?” Misha asked softly, biting into his lip as he waited for an answer. Maybe this was Misha’s ticket to getting Jared out of that mansion and back to safety. Then again, if that was the FBI’s angle, it probably would have been done by now. But he could be wrong; after all, Misha didn’t know anything about the FBI.

At Misha’s question, Jensen nodded, a small frown on his lips. “You can’t tell anyone, Misha,” he explained. “If someone in Morgan’s circle finds out that I’m not who I say I am, the operation will be blown. And if that happens, there’s no way I can protect your brother from Morgan and his men.” When Misha asked if Jared knew, Jensen shook his head. “No, the only people who know are my team and my little sister, Alona. And…now you. Promise me that you won’t let anyone know who I am.”

Quickly, Misha nodded, letting Jensen know that he would keep his secret. “Please, you’re the only one who’s close enough and who will even _try_ to protect Jared. Promise _me_ that you’ll protect my brother. And when this whole operation is over, promise that you’ll get him away from Jeffrey forever.” Frowning, Misha looked at the ground, ashamed as he explained, “It’s my fault Jared’s in this mess anyway. If I hadn’t pissed Jeffrey off and called Jared, none of this would have happened.”

A small frown came to Jensen’s lips when Misha blamed himself for Jared’s current situation. Jensen had read the kid’s file when he was assigned the case; Jared had come to Los Angeles to be an actor, but he somehow ended up working as a waiter in one of Jeffrey’s clubs. Two months later, he had fallen off the map until Misha let the police know that he was with Jeffrey Dean Morgan. No one had really cared enough to get Jared out because it would have put the investigation into Morgan on hold, and no one wanted that. “I promise that I’ll get Jared out of there as soon as I can. And until then, I’ll make sure he’s safe. It’s my number one priority right now, Misha.”

After they spoke for a few more minutes about Jared and how they planned on getting him out of harm’s way Misha left Jensen’s office, Jensen leaving a few minutes later so no one would see the two of them together. If Jim found out that Misha, someone so close to Jared, knew who he really was, Jensen was going to get reamed. But he had to admit he felt a little better now that he had someone else to share his secret with. Keeping everything bottled up inside him had really been taking its toll and now he felt better. Sighing, he headed back to the mansion, some part of him hoping that Jared didn’t remember anything from last night. He really didn’t think he could handle that on top of everything else right now.


	3. Chapter Three

Jared woke with what he knew had to be the worst headache known to man. He didn’t remember much from last night, but he knew that he had gotten drunk, thanks to his brother and the very generous bartender. Also, he knew that he had come onto Jensen and there were kisses exchanged, but he couldn’t remember if it had gone any further. Probably not because that seemed like something he wouldn’t forget for one, and two, he vaguely remembered Jensen telling him to say all of that when he was sober. Yeah, like that was going to happen. Then again, maybe he should tell Jensen because it seemed like he had been into it too. Maybe Jensen wanted this also, and although it wouldn’t mean anything, Jensen would at least know where Jared stood.

No, that was crazy. It didn’t matter where Jared stood because he was never going to be able to be with Jensen – not as long as Jeffrey was around. Sighing, Jared pushed himself out of bed, slowly making his way down the stairs to the kitchen so he could get some aspirin and maybe make this headache dull at least a little bit. Samantha was already up and making breakfast when he got down there, Jared smiling when he smelled the French toast that was cooking. “Morning, Samantha,” he greeted as he poured himself a cup of coffee and downed two _Tylenol_. 

“Morning?” Samantha asked with a small chuckle. “Jared honey, it’s one o’clock in the afternoon,” she explained, giving her head a small shake. “I guess you and your brother had a good time last night. I heard you and Jensen up there making a ruckus and Matt told me that you were so drunk, you could barely keep your hands off Jensen.” When she realized that Jared seemed confused and scared out of his mind, she chuckled again, leading Jared to a chair. “Don’t worry sweetheart, we won’t tell anyone. And if you feel something for Jensen, I say go for it. Don’t listen to Matt – as long as JD doesn’t catch you, there’s no harm in what you’re doing.”

Quickly, Jared shook his head, already having entertained that idea before he came down the stairs and it was a bad one. “No, I can’t,” he argued, licking his lips as he pressed his head into his hands. “It doesn’t matter what I feel because JD will never let me go. And besides, Jensen probably doesn’t even feel the same way as I do. Hell, _I_ don’t even know how I feel. I mean, he’s really nice to me and everything, but he’s also got this air about him that scares the hell out of me. How can I be attracted to someone and afraid of him at the same time?”

Shrugging, Samantha answered, “Love’s a funny thing. And how do you know that Jensen isn’t attracted to you? Have you asked him?” When Jared shook his head, Samantha made a face as if to say I told you so, or something. “Now, how many pieces of French toast do you want?” she asked, sliding one piece onto a plate before adding another, knowing that Jared had a rather large appetite. “All I’m saying is, maybe you should ask him before you completely push the idea off the board. And Jared, I get that you’re scared, but Matt and I, and maybe even a few others will keep your secret if you happen to pursue this thing you have going with Jensen.”

He knew that he could trust a few of the people here, but it was the other few that he was worried about. If anyone happened to find out, Jensen could be in danger, and Jared didn’t want that. “I don’t know,” he whispered softly, giving his head another shake. Taking a bite of his breakfast, Jared just focused on that; there was nothing scary or confusing about eating his breakfast. Well, at least that was until Jensen walked in the door.

A wide smile came to Jensen’s lips when he saw that Jared was awake, the older man striding into the kitchen and taking a seat beside Jared. “Can I have some of that?” he asked Samantha, smiling when she put a plate in front of him. “Thanks. So, how are you feeling, Jared?” he asked, eyes ticking to the younger man’s face before he turned his attention back to his food. His mind was on last night – Jared had been so needy and he’d tasted so good. Jensen almost couldn’t believe that he’d had the strength to push him away. 

When Jensen addressed him, Jared smiled softly, looking at Jensen for a moment before he looked back down at his food. “I’m okay. I have a headache, but other than that, I’m okay. And I took some _Tylenol_ , so I’ll be fine in a few hours.” Okay, so maybe he should tell Jensen how he felt because he had a feeling that Samantha knew a lot more than she had been letting on. Sure, it didn’t mean anything, but Jensen had a right to know, didn’t he? Just as he was about to say something, Jensen’s phone started ringing, the older man quickly excusing himself and heading into the other room to answer the call.

As Jared finished his meal, he gave himself a pep talk, trying to convince himself that telling Jensen what he felt was the right thing to do. Finally, he stood from his seat and headed off after Jensen, ready to tell him how he felt – tell him that he hadn’t only been coming on to him because he was drunk. “Jensen, I –” he started, only to snap his mouth closed when the door opened and Jeffrey walked through. He wasn’t supposed to be home until tomorrow, so Jared was kind of confused here. “JD,” he whispered, smiling softly when the older man hugged him. “I thought you weren’t coming back until tomorrow.”

“I missed you,” Jeffrey answered as he pulled back away from Jared, pressing his lips to his pet’s and moaning softly as he deepened it. “And my last meeting was cancelled, so I came home early, my pet.” His hand slid down Jared’s back to grope his ass as Jeffrey moved closer to him, whispering in the younger man’s ear, “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, my pet. Come upstairs with me and remind me why I love you so much.”

Before Jared had a chance to protest, Jeffrey was all but dragging him up the stairs, leaving no room for Jared to argue. Jared spared one last glance back at Jensen, feeling as though he was betraying him somehow before he was out of sight, the door sounding much too loud as it slammed behind him. “JD…wait,” Jared whispered as the older man pushed him back towards the bed, his lips attacking Jared’s neck and shoulder. “JD, it’s the middle of the day, don’t you think it would be better to wait until later?”

Jeffrey quickly shook his head, muttering something about wanting Jared no matter what time it was. Jared honestly wasn’t really listening. All he could think about was the way that Jensen looked at him as he was dragged away and it nearly broke his heart. “Jared, my pet, just relax. Everyone already knows what goes on between us and I want you.” He shoved Jared onto the bed then, crawling onto it with him as he started to open Jared’s pants, smiling at his lover. “So…what have you been up to while I’ve been gone?”

There was no way Jared could tell the truth about what he had been doing, so he had to lie. Shrugging, he answered, “Nothing really. I did a little shopping, bought a few outfits for more gatherings that you have scheduled, but other than that, nothing.” When Jeffrey asked about Misha, Jared shrugged. “Jensen took me to see Misha once, but it was only for about an hour. He was with me the whole time, though so nothing happened.” Of course, that was a lie, but no one would be able to confirm it. And no one else knew about the party that Jared knew of, so he was safe on that front too.

He rolled his eyes when Jared told him that he had been to see Misha, Jeffrey obviously not a fan of Misha. “Well good; now that you’ve been to see him, he won’t want to see you again for a while. That means we can probably put off the next visit until my meetings in Canada next month.” Smiling, he pulled Jared’s pants off, kissing the younger man’s thighs before he added, “Of course, Jensen won’t be able to take you. I plan on having him come with me then. Maybe we can find you a bodyguard and he can take you.”

Frowning, Jared gave his head a small shake. “I don’t…need a bodyguard, JD, I’m fine,” he assured the older man. Jared knew what this was about. Jeffrey was still pissed at him for trying to leave and he was punishing him even after all these years. “I’m not going to run – you know that. You made it _very_ clear what would happen if I tried to run again, JD.” He knew this was dangerous – speaking to Jeffrey this way – but he hated being treated this way. “I don’t need to be babysat. I should be able to leave when I want to. I’m not a prisoner here, am I?”

Now, he was getting angry. Jared had never spoken to him like this and Jeffrey was curious as to what had gotten into his young pet. “Of course you’re not a prisoner here, my pet, but I can’t trust you to behave.” His movements were rougher as he pulled Jared’s shirt open, buttons popping off and flying in every direction, causing Jared to gasp softly. “The last time I trusted you and let you go off on your own, you tried to run away from me. And I can’t allow that to happen again, pet.” Shoving Jared’s shirt off his shoulders, Jeffrey reminded, “You came to me on your own free will. And when your brother got himself into trouble, I didn’t kill him like I would have done to most men because you begged me not to. Now you’re mine – you agreed to this, Jared.”

Jared shook his head when Jeffrey told him he came here on his own. “You seduced me,” Jared whispered, biting into his bottom lip as he shook his head again. “I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, and then Misha, and—I’m not saying that I don’t care about you because I do. All I’m saying is that I don’t want to be treated like this anymore. I want to be able to live my life, JD. Please?”

Angrily, Jeffrey got off the bed, knowing that if he didn’t leave Jared, he might hurt him because he was letting his temper get the best of him. “Well, now you’ve ruined my mood,” he accused, quickly righting his clothes and heading for the door. “Just remember who I am the next time you want to speak to me like that, Jared. I may not hurt you, but I can hurt the people you care about and no one would be the wiser.” With that, Jeffrey left the room, slamming the door behind him to let Jared know just how mad he really was.

When the door slammed, Jared jumped, knowing that he had really screwed up this time. He didn’t know what had gotten into him, but he was wondering if maybe he should just stay up here and never go back down there. This had something to do with Jensen – Jared was feeling stronger because he’d kissed Jensen and he had gotten away with it and now it was screwing with his well-being. He needed to get his head straight again and in order to do that, Jared knew he had to stay away from Jensen. Samantha had been wrong – he should just listen to Matt and not try to get with Jensen, even if he wanted him. It would only cause problems and someone would end up getting hurt. Jared knew that it was better to be safe than happy.

**~~**

A wide smile came to Danneel’s lips as she saw Jensen walking down the hallway, the young woman quickly catching up to him. “So, did you miss me while I was gone?” she asked, smiling at Jensen seductively. She had a major crush on him and he had turned her down more times than she could count, but she wasn’t about to give up just because there had been a few hiccups in the road. Today, she had a good feeling. After all, she had been gone for a few days because while Jeffrey was on his trip, there had been nothing for her to do. 

He barely suppressed the eye roll when Danneel asked if he missed her, Jensen giving his head a small shake. “No, not really,” he answered, not even breaking stride as she tried to follow him. When she insisted that he was lying, Jensen actually did roll his eyes, stopping so that he could look her in the eye. “Danneel…I would rather poke out my own eyes with a rusty fork than go out with you. So just stop trying to get with me because it’s not going to happen.” With that, Jensen continued down the hall, leaving a shocked Danneel alone to think about what Jensen had told her.

After the initial shock of Jensen’s words passed, Danneel took a moment to compose to herself before she headed to the desk she sat at all day to work on a few things for Jeffrey’s next meetings, which were in two weeks. On top of that, Jeffrey had a dinner party he was hosting tomorrow that she would need to remind him about and then she would have to go stock up on supplies for the dinner party before she headed home for the night. And of course she would have to find clothes for Jared to wear because Jeffrey insisted that she knew what was just right for him. After all, Jeffrey had a dress code for Jared when they were hosting dinner parties – the younger man had to be dressed in beautiful, expensive clothes that were _slightly_ teasing, but never too revealing. Jeffrey assured her that she would know exactly where that cut off point was and she hadn’t screwed it up yet, so she still had the task of laying Jared’s clothes out for him.

By nine o’clock in the evening, Danneel was finally finished filing and setting up more meetings when it was necessary. Needless to say, Jeffrey was a very popular man, and it was her job to keep all of his meetings and his clients in order. Additionally, she handled a few minor things with the clubs, but she tried to stay out of anything that could connect her to his illegal side of the business. He had another secretary for that job, though Danneel didn’t know much about her. All she cared about was coming to work on time, not getting Jeffrey upset, doing her job, and getting her paycheck. Anything else was out of her hands, so there was no point in trying to fix it. Like the way Jared was treated sometimes by Jeffrey’s men when he wasn’t around. She wasn’t getting involved in any of that. If Jared cared how they treated him, he could tell Jeffrey and get them all in trouble. Danneel didn’t need that on her plate as well; she couldn’t afford to lose this job, so she kept her nose out of things that didn’t concern her.

Sighing, Danneel grabbed her paperwork that she would need to take home and review and placed it into her purse before she headed up to Jeffrey’s room where he kept all of Jared’s clothes. Jeffrey had stormed out of the house a few hours earlier, so she didn’t think he was home, which was better for her. The less contact she actually had with her boss the better; that way she couldn’t get herself into trouble. Unfortunately, she had no idea where Jared was, and she didn’t really want to be in the same room alone with him either, so she was in a small predicament here.

When she reached the top of the stairs and made the turn to get to Jeffrey’s room, she knocked softly on the door, waiting for Jared to tell her that it was all right to come in. Once she was inside, she quickly moved to the closet and started picking out a few outfits that she thought might work for the dinner party. Luckily, almost as soon as she moved to the closet, Jared left the room. Danneel had made it very clear when she started working here that she wasn’t going to be Jared’s friend – there were many of the helpers here who socialized with Jared and treated him almost like family, but Danneel wasn’t going to be one of them. Now, Jared just avoided her as much as possible, which was just how she liked it. 

Jared frowned as he stepped up to Jensen’s door, biting into his bottom lip and worrying it between his teeth. He didn’t know what else to do while Danneel was in his and Jeffrey’s room, and he and Jensen did need to talk, so there was at least _one_ reason for him to bother Jensen. Of course, if Jensen was busy, Jared would just go watch television, or something. Finally, after working up enough courage, Jared knocked on Jensen’s door, waiting patiently for the older man to open the door. When the door opened, Jared smiled softly. “Um…hi, are you busy? Because I can come back later if you are,” he rambled, feeling even more nervous now that Jensen was standing in front of him.

It was always funny to listen and watch Jared as he rambled because his hair did this cute floppy thing as Jared bobbed his head, and Jensen just loved it. “No, I’m not busy. What’d you need?” Jensen asked, having a hard time pulling his eyes away from Jared. Memories from the night before were clogging his brain, and then Jared’s face when Jeffrey had come home today. Jensen had heard Jeffrey leave a few minutes later, and by the way he slammed the door, it sounded like he had been pissed off about something. He knew he had no right to do so, but Jensen hoped that it was because Jared wouldn’t let him have sex with him just then.

“Well, Danneel’s in my room getting clothes ready for tomorrow night’s dinner party, and she doesn’t really like me that much,” Jared explained, once again worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. “I was just…looking for something to do and I was wondering if you wanted to talk.” His eyes briefly met Jensen’s before he was looking down at the floor again, Jared knowing that Jensen knew exactly what he was asking to talk about. When Jensen stepped aside and told Jared to come in, he did so, swallowing thickly when Jensen closed the door behind him. Honestly, Jared didn’t know how he felt about being in the same room as Jensen alone, but he didn’t feel threatened right now, so he figured he was all right. “Um…so, have you heard from JD since he left?” Jared asked, trying to figure out something to break the ice.

At Jared’s question, Jensen shook his head, moving around Jared to sit on the desk chair he had been sitting in before Jared knocked. “JD only calls me when he needs me,” Jensen explained with a small shrug. “I’m guessing he’s got Mark and Frederic with him right now, so I basically have the afternoon off.” Licking his lips, Jensen leaned forward in the chair, motioning towards the bed. “Go ahead and have a seat,” he instructed, smiling when Jared did as he was told. “So…what did you really want to talk about?” he asked, jade eyes locked on Jared’s face. “Because I have a feeling you didn’t come in here to talk about where JD is. Am I right?”

Slowly, Jared shook his head, letting Jensen know that he was right. “I, um…wanted to talk to you about last night,” Jared explained, his voice so small and low that Jensen had to lean a little closer to hear what he was saying. This was all so new to him, and Jared had no idea how to go about this. Hell, Jared had no idea what he even wanted. He knew that he thought Jensen was hot, and sometimes he had fantasies about the older man, but he was also frightened of him sometimes. But that wasn’t any different from Jeffrey – Jared was scared of Jeffrey more often than not, so really, Jared didn’t see a problem there. The only problem he could see was that he wanted to be with Jensen to some degree, and it wasn’t possible because he was being forced to stay with Jeffrey. To say that he was confused would have been an understatement. 

Leaning in closer to Jared, Jensen’s eyes ticked down to Jared’s lips before he returned his attention to Jared’s eyes. He knew that his mind was going in the wrong direction and that he had been ordered to keep it in his pants, but he was having a hard time following that order. If Jim would have been here and seen Jared, he would understand why this was so hard for Jensen; well, maybe he wouldn’t because Jared was too young for him, and Jim wasn’t into men, but if he looked at this from Jensen’s perspective, he would see how hard it was. “What about it?” Jensen asked, his tongue slowly sliding across his plush lips as his eyes ticked back to Jared’s lips.

What about it? Hell, Jared had no idea. How did you tell someone that you really enjoyed the drunken kissing and touching, but there was no way it could happen again because of your controlling boyfriend who would kill the person kissing you if he ever found out? Yeah, that probably wasn’t exactly how Jared should word it, though he did want to let Jensen know that he had liked it. “Um…well, it’s just that…I was drunk and if I hadn’t been, I wouldn’t have allowed myself to do that. I mean, if JD ever found out about that, he would probably kill you and I don’t even know what he would do to me.” Sighing, Jared once again chewed at his bottom lip, eyes ticking up to meet Jensen’s briefly before he whispered, “But I liked it. And if it wasn’t for JD, I’d do it again. But that doesn’t mean—”

His sentence was cut short when Jensen pressed their lips together, a small moan breaking from both of their throats as Jared allowed Jensen to ravage his mouth. The desk chair Jensen was sitting on rolled back into the desk and slammed against the wooden edge as Jensen pushed himself off of it, forcing Jared to lie back on the bed so the kiss could continue as he crawled onto the mattress with him. This was wrong, but Jensen, and apparently Jared, couldn’t find it in themselves to stop. Last night had ignited the fire that Jensen felt for Jared again and it had come back with a vengeance this time – there was no way he could stop this.

They really shouldn’t be doing this – Jared knew that, but he couldn’t stop. This kiss was even better than the night before and Jensen wasn’t pushing him away when he reached for him and pulled him down closer, Jared’s hand fisting in the short locks of Jensen’s hair. Jared’s legs spread to accommodate Jensen’s body, Jared once again moaning softly into the older man’s mouth. When the kiss finally broke, Jared was panting for breath, head tilting to the side to allow Jensen better access to his neck and shoulder, which Jensen was in the process of attacking right now. The idea that they shouldn’t do this ran through Jared’s head again, but he pushed it aside. He wanted this, dammit! And Jared rarely got to do anything he wanted – besides, Jeffrey wasn’t here right now, so what’s the worst that could happen?

Suddenly, as if the universe was trying to tell him something, there was a knock on the door, Jared quickly righted his clothes that Jensen had been yanking at and sat up, waiting for Jensen to tell whoever it was that it was all right to come in. “Yeah?” Jensen called out, wiping his lips with the pad of his thumb as the door slowly opened. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes when Danneel walked in, turning his head slightly to look at Jared before he looked back at Danneel. “What is it now?” he asked, obviously not amused by this visit. 

When Danneel noticed that she wasn’t the only one in Jensen’s room, the woman frowned, wondering what the hell Jared was doing in here. His cheeks were flushed and his face was a little wet, so she figured he must have been crying. It never occurred to her that the wetness was sweat and he was flushed from pleasure. “Hi Jen, I was just wondering if maybe you’d walk me out to my car? Usually Matt does it, but he’s out with Mr. Morgan right now. I mean, these streets are a little iffy, and I park in the back. You can never be too careful.”

The last thing Jensen wanted to do was walk Danneel Harris, the woman with a clear crush on him who couldn’t seem to understand that he wanted nothing to do with her, to her car, but he kind of felt obligated to do so. If something were to happen to Danneel because he hadn’t walked her out, he would have felt responsible, and he couldn’t deal with that. Turning his attention to Jared one last time and giving him a small smile, Jensen pushed himself off the desk chair that he had returned to before he told Danneel it was fine to come in. “All right, let’s go,” he mumbled, leaving the door open when he left so Jared didn’t think he had to stay in there. 

As they walked to the car, Danneel chattered about what a lovely night it was, quickly segueing into topics about decent restaurants. “So…I was thinking maybe tomorrow we could go out to lunch, or something? I mean, even if you don’t want to go on a date with me, you have to eat, right?” And she would consider this a date, even if Jensen was in denial. Sooner or later, he would come around and see that Danneel was the woman of his dreams, just like she knew Jensen was the man of hers. “I could even get us some take-out and we could eat it while we work. I mean, as long as Mr. Morgan doesn’t need you to work through lunch.”

Opening Danneel’s car door for her so that she would hopefully get the message that he wasn’t interested, Jensen answered, “It’s not going to happen, Danneel. I don’t want to eat lunch with you, and JD usually has me work right through lunch, anyway. Stop trying to get with me, because it’s not going to happen.” With that, Jensen walked back towards the house, ignoring Danneel when she told him that he would see his feelings for her eventually. Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen.

**~~**

Chad smiled as he ran his hands over the newly made bruises on his hips and his arms. The way he was sitting offered just enough pressure on his aching hole to remind him of what had happened mere minutes ago in this very bed. He was still sticky with his own cum and his lover’s cum was sliding down his thighs, making him smile wider. When the bathroom door opened, he turned his attention to the man, crawling over towards the edge of the bed and pressing his hands against his lover’s shoulders, lips sliding along the man’s neck and shoulder. “Mmm…JD, you were amazing,” Chad moaned softly, moving to nip at Jeffrey’s ear. “You should come around here more often. I wouldn’t mind, you know.”

A small chuckle escaped Jeffrey as he pulled his head away from Chad so he couldn’t kiss him like he was trying to do. “You know that I only come here when I’m too upset to be at my house,” he reminded, pushing himself of the bed and grabbing his boxers. Chad wasn’t the one he really wanted to be with, but when he was angry, he met up with Chad and took his frustrations out on him. After all, he didn’t mind if Jeffrey was rough, and Jeffrey didn’t care if he hurt Chad. He could never be rough with Jared because sometimes he went too far, which wasn’t something he was willing to risk with Jared. If he ever hurt Jared, Jeffrey didn’t know what he would do. 

According to Jeffrey, Chad wasn’t anything but a prostitute he liked to fuck when he was in the mood for something rough. Chad was just one of the men who worked in his ring and Jeffrey thought he had been attractive so he tried him out. Unfortunately, sometimes Chad seemed like he thought they were actually in love, and it seemed that Chad wanted Jeffrey to be his sugar daddy or something. That just wasn’t Jeffrey’s style. He would fuck Chad roughly and give him pleasure for a few hours, but he was by no means in love with him. Jeffrey’s heart belonged to Jared, and there was nothing that would ever change that.

Once Jeffrey was dressed, he sat back down on the bed, shrugging off Chad’s advances as he started getting his shoes and socks on. “I have to get back to Jared,” Jeffrey explained. “He’s probably worried about where I am, and I don’t want him to be. He’s a worrywart, you know.” Smiling, Jeffrey began tying his left shoe, thinking about all of the things he was going to do with Jared when he got back home. It had been long enough for Jared to calm down now, so Jeffrey didn’t see any reason why they couldn’t have that perfect night he had been planning on having when he got back from the trip. Hopefully, Jared wouldn’t ruin it again this time. 

“Can’t you stay here with me tonight?” Chad asked, his lower lip protruding into a pout. “Jared gets to have you all day, every day. I don’t think he’ll worry too badly if you don’t show up one night.” Chad hated that Jeffrey loved Jared and therefore put Chad on the back burner when he thought Jared might need something. His life would have been so much easier if Jared was just out of the picture for good. But there was no way that could happen because Chad had never seen the kid, so he had no idea who he was. Plus, if it could ever be traced back to him, Chad would be in big trouble, and that was the last thing he needed. “Please? Stay with me?”

Now, Jeffrey was starting to get angry. He had said once already that he wasn’t going to stay here and that he was leaving to go home to Jared, and Chad was starting to piss him off with this. “No,” he answered firmly, pushing Chad away from him as he stood. “I’m going home to Jared. I’ll see you the next time.” With that, Jeffrey stood, heading towards the door and leaving. Maybe the next time he would just have to go see another one of the workers from the ring – that would teach Chad a much needed lesson.


	4. Chapter Four

“Can I help?” Jared asked as he stepped into the kitchen, noticing that Samantha was making various snacks for the dinner party that Jeffrey was hosting this evening. Jared usually helped with that when he wasn’t busy getting ready himself – it was kind of a tradition between him and Samantha. Tonight was just a basic dinner – something that Jeffrey did once every month or so. Mayors, police officials, and rival gang lords were all going to be in the same room together tonight, and Jared knew that he had to be on his best behavior. Since that night with Jensen, Jared had been behaving badly, which was really making Jeffrey angry. In all honesty, Jared was surprised that his brother hadn’t been hurt because of it.

But tonight was going to be different. Jared had already made it a goal not to piss Jeffrey off at all, which would hopefully earn him some brownie points. Still, there was no guarantee his plan was going to work. After all, he really couldn’t think of anything other than Jensen for the last twenty four hours, and it was really messing with his head. Of course, he couldn’t tell Jeffrey that – if Jeffrey found out about what he and Jensen had been doing while he’d been gone, there would be major consequences for the both of them. And while Jeffrey would never hurt Jared, there was no telling what he would do to Jensen, or Misha for that matter. That was just more motivation to behave tonight. If Jared embarrassed Jeffrey in front of all of these people, he would be in more trouble than he could possible imagine.

With a wide smile on her lips, Samantha answered, “Of course you can, sweetheart. You don’t even have to ask.” Jared knew his way around the kitchen, even if Samantha didn’t let him actually cook anything. The poor boy meant well, it was just that he didn’t know how to cook anything other than mac and cheese and TV dinners, which were not on the menu very often. Jeffrey liked to have his food extravagant more often than not – especially for these dinner parties he always threw. 

About an hour later, all of the food and the snacks were made for the party, giving Jared about twenty minutes to get himself ready before the guests started arriving. It really wasn’t all that hard since he had already been wearing the pants Jeffrey wanted him to wear. All he had to do was change his shirt and he would be good to go. Luckily, Jeffrey had Danneel set all of that out for him the night before, which made everything a lot easier for him. Jeffrey liked it when things were easy for Jared because he didn’t like him to get stressed out; of course, that never really went down the way Jeffrey planned since Jared stressed about almost everything, but it was still a nice gesture. 

Guests starting arriving just on time and Jeffrey was the perfect host. He made sure to keep Jared at his side the entire time because he enjoyed the fact that he had a “kept boy,” as he called Jared, and he loved showing him off. After all, Jared was quite a few years younger than Jeffrey, which really said something about the older man if he could still get someone as young as Jared. It seemed to impress a lot of the people who were attending the party, though Jared wasn’t exactly sure why. Another thing that Jeffrey did that was really starting to get on Jared’s nerves was the way he’d grope him in front of people. If Jeffrey didn’t have his hand somewhere on Jared practically the whole night, he was freaking out. Hell, Jared had to pry his hand away from Jeffrey to go to the bathroom. It was a little ridiculous. Though Jared couldn’t say anything about it – especially not in front of guests.

The party was pretty average, nothing exciting really happening. Jared liked these sorts of parties honestly. If things went as planned, Jeffrey was a lot happier when the evening was over. By ten o’clock, everyone but Jeffrey’s inner circle had gone home, which meant Jared had a little bit of time to himself. After all, Jeffrey didn’t like Jared to be part of the business because he considered the younger man to be pure and innocent. By allowing Jared to know anything more than what was necessary about his work would have corrupt him just like it had done so many others before him, and Jeffrey couldn’t have that.

As he waited upstairs in their room for Jeffrey to be done with his final meeting for the night, Jared started to undress, figuring he could get ready for the shower he knew was coming. After spending a whole night groping and touching Jared in front of people, Jeffrey usually liked to get a shower, which Jared was of course expected to join him with. Sometimes, Jared wished that Jeffrey was out on business calls all of the time because he had so much more freedom when that happened. Like this last meeting when he had been left alone with Jensen; it had probably been one of the best few nights of his life. 

Jensen – yeah, that was another problem Jared was going to have to deal with. A part of him was screaming that the other night had been a fluke and it was just craziness, but another part was telling him there was something more here. He had really enjoyed that kiss – both nights – but he knew that it wasn’t a good idea to dwell on that. Not when Jeffrey still had something over his head like he did now. But there was just no way his brain was going to let him forget how good it had been to kiss Jensen, which could pose as a problem. Jared couldn’t be in a relationship with Jensen. There was just no way to make that happen. Yet, he knew for a fact that if Danneel hadn’t interrupted them last night, they wouldn’t have stopped with just kissing. Something needed to be done about that.

He was dragged out of his thoughts when Jeffrey came into the room and closed the door, his large arms wrapping around Jared’s waist as the older man whispered in Jared’s ear, “Come on, pet. Let’s get in the shower and have a little fun.” Unfortunately, Jeffrey and Jared had a different definition for the word fun. Jeffrey thought that having sex was fun, and Jared really didn’t want to do it, but he wasn’t going to say no, either. There was no need to upset Jeffrey since they were having such a great night.

After Jeffrey had gotten off, he washed Jared’s body thoroughly, enjoying every minute of it. Jared thought that Jeffrey might actually like washing him almost as much as he liked fucking him, but maybe that was just his imagination. Actually, Jeffrey always pampered Jared – almost to the point of Jared feeling like an invalid when Jeffrey was done because he would even go as far as to feed Jared and brush his hair. Jared was twenty three years old – he could do all of that by himself. And Jeffrey may have thought that it was romantic, but Jared thought that it was degrading. Not that Jeffrey cared about what Jared thought, of course. After all, Jared was nothing more than Jeffrey’s “pet.”

Then again, Jared supposed that he couldn’t really complain. Being “Jeffrey’s boy” did have its perks. The presents were a plus. Growing up, Jared and Misha hadn’t had much money, so it was nice to be able to get showered with any gift you wanted because the man you were with had more money than he knew what to do with. And Jared knew that on some level, Jeffrey really did love him, which was nice too. After all, as a child, all anyone ever wants is to grow up and find someone who cares about them – Jared had that with Jeffrey. But there were just a few things that Jared would like to change about his life, and unfortunately those things were pretty big. It wasn’t something small like Jeffrey left his facial hair in the sink when he was done trimming his beard – it would be easy to fix that problem. It was how Jared was treated, and he didn’t think there was any way to fix that anytime in the near future.

Once he was clean, Jeffrey wrapped him in a towel and walked with him to the bedroom, lying Jared down on the bed first before crawling in behind him. Jeffrey’s arms were around Jared as soon as their towels were tossed into the hamper, Jeffrey pressing his lips against Jared’s shoulder. “Sleep well, my pet,” Jeffrey whispered softly as he closed his eyes, knowing they had a big day ahead of them tomorrow. His niece Genevieve was coming over to stay for a few days, which was going to be stressful in itself. And then he had a meeting to prepare for, which only added to the stress. He was going to need all of the rest he could get.

Another thing Jared had a problem with was the fact that he was forced to sleep naked. He remembered one night when he had been so exhausted that he’d wanted to just fall into bed and sleep for a year. Because of that, he’d just left his clothes on, and Jeffrey freaked out. Jeffrey insisted that Jared get his clothes off, and when Jared asked if he could just sleep in them, Jeffrey had all but ripped them off Jared’s body, yelling that he was never to sleep with one stitch of clothing on as long as they were in the bed together. It was just another example of how controlling Jeffrey was, and another reason why Jared wanted to get away from him so badly. 

**~~**

The next morning, Jared woke to the feel of someone caressing the side of his face. At first, Jared thought that it was Jeffrey and he didn’t think too much of it, but the voice was wrong as the owner cooed in his ear. Still, the voice was familiar. He’d heard it before, but he was having trouble placing it right now. Suddenly, it hit him, Jared’s eyes snapping open and his body bolting out of the bed so quickly that he nearly fell over backwards off the bed. “G-Genevieve,” he gasped, pulling the blankets a little more securely around his waist so she didn’t get a peek of something he didn’t want her to see. “What are you doing here?”

Genevieve Cortese was Jeffrey’s niece and she was always flirting with Jared, which wasn’t something that he appreciated. And Jeffrey didn’t even seem to care about it – probably because he knew Jared would never be interested because Genevieve was missing an important part below the belt. Still, she was an interesting character; she was the kind of girl who liked the power of coming from a crime family, and she always gets what she wants. Well, most of the time. Jensen actually didn’t treat her the way she expected to be treated, which didn’t go down too well in the beginning, but now Genevieve knew nothing she did was going to make Jensen change; that was another thing Jared kind of liked about Jensen. But he couldn’t start thinking about that already.

“You know what I’m doing here,” Genevieve assured Jared with a small smile. “I’m sure JD told you I was coming here today. My parents are out of town and they told me I could come see JD, so I obviously took the invitation.” Pushing herself off the bed, she headed towards the door, that small smile still on her lips. “JD wanted me to let you know that we’re going to get ice cream and shopping, so he’ll be back later. Unless you wanted to come. I mean, neither of us would mind, I’m sure.”

Quickly, Jared shook his head at the invitation, not wanting to have to see Genevieve more than he absolutely had to. Thank God when she came to the mansion she never stayed very long. Jared didn’t think he could handle being hit on every day like this. “No, you should go with him and then I’ll see you guys when you get back,” Jared explained with a small nod. “I mean, I don’t want to impose on your time together. I get him all of the time, so you guys can just catch up. There are a few things around the house I have to do anyway, so we’ll just hang out when you get back.”

Although it was clear that Genevieve wasn’t too happy about his decision, she didn’t say anything as she walked out of the room, leaving Jared alone to get dressed and ready for the day. Really, he didn’t have any plans other than sitting around and thinking about the colossal mess his life was now, but she didn’t have to know that. Maybe he would have a chance to actually talk to Jensen today. That plan hadn’t gone over so well last night and Jared was hoping that now it would be different. Then again, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t turn out just like last night because Jared apparently had no control over himself when he was around Jensen, so maybe it was better to just steer clear of the older man. God, he didn’t know what to do!

He dressed quickly, waiting to hear Jeffrey and Genevieve leave the mansion before he left the room and jogged down the stairs. It was breakfast time for him, and he was going to just focus on eating first and then figure out what he’d do with the rest of the time he had to himself. Maybe he would call Misha and chat with him for a while. After all, it was always nice to hear his brother’s voice. And maybe Misha could shed some light onto his current situation and talk him out of these ridiculous fantasies he was having about Jensen Ross. Or, there was also the possibility that Misha would only make it worse since he seemed to love Jensen so much at the club that night. Jared was really stuck here.

When he made it to the kitchen and Samantha wasn’t there, Jared frowned slightly. Samantha was always in the kitchen making _something_ ; especially at this hour. He jumped a little when he felt someone touch his arm, licking his lips as he breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed that it was only Jensen. Really, he shouldn’t be relieved, but it was better than seeing someone else in the trusted circle of Jeffrey’s. “Oh Jensen, hi,” Jared smiled, not really sure what else to say now. Their recent encounters had made their relationship very confusing for Jared.

“Hey,” Jensen greeted, a small smile coming to his lips. “Why are you always so jumpy?” He didn’t think that Jeffrey abused Jared, but if he had been, then Jensen was going to risk his operation to get Jared out of here and to safety. After all, from what he had learned about Jeffrey, the older man was a ruthless bastard who had little concern for human life other than his own. But Jensen hadn’t seen Jeffrey ever do anything to Jared that proved he was hurting him, so he was hoping that Jared was all right. 

Jared shook his head with a small chuckle when Jensen asked why he was so jumpy. “Well, when you live with a crime lord who has as many enemies as Jeffrey does, you’d be jumpy too,” he joked, running a hand through his hair slowly. “Um…have you seen Samantha? Is she off today, or something?” The last time Samantha had taken a day off had been a year after Jared and got here and that was only because her daughter had been sick. The woman was _always_ here otherwise because she couldn’t afford to take days off. 

It was hard to have a conversation with Jared and not realize every little detail about the younger man. Like the way he would run his fingers through his hair, and the little dents in his cheeks when he almost smiled wide enough to show off his dimples. He was truly beautiful and Jensen wished that he would just let himself go while they were together. Hell, Jensen wished Jared would let them _be_ together. But he knew that wasn’t something he should be wishing for because of his investigation. Still, he couldn’t help what he wanted. “Yeah, she just ran out to get some more eggs. She was about to make pancakes and she realized that she didn’t have enough eggs. And Genevieve was here, so she was happy to make the trip.”

A small chuckle escaped Jared when Jensen mentioned that Samantha left because of Genevieve. It was no secret the older woman wasn’t a fan of Jeffrey’s niece and Jared could only imagine the hell she was going to be dealing with while Genevieve was staying here. “Oh, well, when she comes back, could you come get me? I’ll be in my room,” Jared explained, knowing it wouldn’t be a good idea to stay down here with Jensen in an almost empty house where anything could happen. After all, Sebastian was off doing his own thing in the rooms upstairs, Matt was out driving Genevieve and Jeffrey around, and Danneel hadn’t come in to start her shift yet; they were all but alone down here. If something happened, no one would be the wiser. It was best to just go upstairs and take away the temptation.

If he was a smarter man more in control of his emotions, Jensen would have just nodded and let Jared go upstairs, but he wasn’t. He needed to know where they stood because all of the mixed signals he had been getting were really starting to make him go crazy. All of the times they’d kissed, Jared seemed to like it, and then the next day they just seemed to forget about it and go on with their own lives. Well, Jensen was done with that – he needed answers and he was going to get them now. Before Jared could get too far away from him, Jensen grabbed his elbow, keeping him in place. “Tell me where we stand, Jared,” he all but begged. “After the last few nights, I’m just…so confused. What are we gonna do about this?”

To say that he was surprised when he was grabbed would have been an understatement, Jared nearly choking on his own breath when Jensen asked the very question he’d been struggling with over the last few days. He had no idea what they were going to do about this, but he did know that Jensen’s eyes were so piercing and fucking _green_ , and his lips looked like they were just begging for attention, and dammit, it was too hard to resist. Before he knew what was happening, Jared had closed the distance between himself and Jensen, their lips crushing together in a messy, heated kiss.

Although he hadn’t been expecting the kiss, there was no way Jensen was going to complain, his hand falling away from Jared’s elbow and moving instead to the back of his head, pulling the younger man closer to him as he opened his mouth to invite Jared’s tongue to play. Much to his surprise, Jared didn’t pull away and actually returned the kiss, the younger man’s moan shooting right down to Jensen’s groin as he returned the moan. He pulled Jared impossibly closer as both his arms wrapped around the younger man’s waist, their lips parting briefly so they could catch their breath. “So, this answers my question, I guess,” he chuckled before Jared was kissing him again. 

This was bad on more than one level, but Jared just couldn’t stop. Jensen felt really good against him and this kiss was just great. It felt _right_ , though Jared knew that wasn’t the case. Still, that knowledge wasn’t enough to stop him as he allowed Jensen to push him back against the counter and ravage his mouth. He quickly pushed his hands under Jensen’s T-shirt, feeling the hard planes of muscle hidden beneath Jensen’s clothes, another moan tearing from his throat. God, why did this have to feel so good?!

Suddenly, there were bags of groceries placed on the counter beside them, causing both men to jump and pull apart. “You know, if you boys are going to be doing that kind of taboo stuff, you could at least do it somewhere private,” Samantha teased, smirking at Jensen and Jared. It was about time they finally stopped beating around the bush and made a move as far as she was concerned, though she could clearly tell that Jared was afraid. “Don’t look at me like that Jared, I’m serious,” she informed him. “I don’t care if you’re going to do it – I’m actually glad you two are finally doing it – but don’t let Jeffrey see you doing it. Don’t worry, honey, your secret is safe with me.”

He wasn’t surprised that Samantha was willing to keep his secret, though he knew that she was right. Jensen couldn’t just grab him in the kitchen of all places and kiss him. Even if Jared had initiated the kiss here, it was still Jensen’s fault because he’s brought up this conversation. “Yeah, I know,” he smiled at the older woman. “It won’t happen again.” Pulling even further away from Jensen, his cheeks stained a slight pink color, Jared asked, “Is there anything I can help with?” Helping in the kitchen would really help to take his mind off Jensen, which is what he needed right now. After all, there was no telling when Jeffrey would be back and he didn’t want the older man to suspect anything. 

Taking a moment to look over everything she had and think about what she needed to get done, Samantha shook her head slightly. “No thanks, sweetie, I have everything I need here.” Smirking as she ticked her eyes towards Jensen, she suggested, “Why don’t you and Jensen head out for a little while? I’ll cover for you guys if JD comes back before you.” She knew that Jensen had been looking for the perfect opportunity to get Jared away with him so they could be alone, and here it was. All they had to do was get Jared to say yes. Then again, that was harder said than done. 

There was honestly nothing in the world that he wanted to do more than go somewhere and be with Jensen alone for a little while, but he knew that it was too dangerous. Slowly, he looked at Jensen as he gave his head a small shake. “I want to,” he assured the older man. “But it’s too dangerous. I’m so sorry.” With that, Jared fled from the room, heading to his bedroom that he shared with Jeffrey and locking himself in. He knew he was a wuss and that he should just go off with Jensen because he wanted to and think of a lie to tell Jeffrey later, but he was scared. And because of his fear, it was very possible that he was going to lose Jensen. But maybe that was for the best now that he was thinking about it. After all, it was good to just get the temptation out of there.

A small sigh left Jensen as he plopped down onto the stool glancing at Samantha. “So, I think I’m finally making progress,” he chuckled, trying to take his mind off the fact that Jared was still so scared to be with him. And as bad as it was, Jensen didn’t think it was going to change until Jeffrey was behind bars and out of the picture for good. But there was no guarantee that was ever going to happen. It really kind of pissed him off because he knew that Jared wanted him, but there was one thing holding him back and there was nothing Jensen could do about him until they had some real evidence to go on and put Jeffrey behind bars that he couldn’t squeeze out of. Every time someone had him on something, his damn lawyer would wiggle him free, and it was over. Jensen needed something without wiggle room here, and then he could have Jared.

Samantha frowned at Jensen’s words, placing a reassuring hand on the man’s shoulder. “Don’t let this get you down, honey. He’ll come to his senses sooner or later, and I’ll be here for you when you need me.” Plus, she could probably get Sebastian and Matt on her side too so they had a little bit of room there to give Jensen and Jared time alone. And they would do whatever they could to make that happen. After all, they may have been stuck there, but that didn’t mean Jared had to be. And Jensen was a smart kid – he could be doing anything he wanted, but he was working for Jeffrey now, so he was stuck until Jeffrey was out of the picture too. On the bright side, that gave him time with Jared, which was a plus. 

The only response to her words that Jensen offered was a small smile before he pushed himself off the stool and walked out of the room. He just needed to be alone for a little while. A shower would have been good too since he was a little hard from that kiss. Jared had been the same way – Jensen could feel it on the younger man when they’d been pressed so close together – and Jensen found himself using that memory in the shower to stroke himself to completion. Vaguely, he found himself wondering if maybe Jared had done the same thing when he locked himself in his room, the thought bringing a smile to Jensen’s lips as he got dressed. He heard the door open, and the annoying shriek of Genevieve’s voice, signaling that they were home, so he quickly threw his lock into place. Jensen just didn’t want to deal with her right now.

“Jared, pet, I’m home,” Jeffrey called as he walked up the steps, smiling when he saw Jared coming out of their bedroom. “Were you thinking about me in there?” he asked seductively as he wrapped his arms around Jared, pressing his lips to the younger man’s neck and groping Jared through his sweat pants. His smile only widened when Jared nodded, Jeffrey turning Jared in his grasp so they were facing each other and crushing their lips together. A small frown came to his lips as he pulled back, tilting his head to the side. “What is that?” he asked, licking his lips to refresh his memory. “Is that cherry?”

When Jeffrey asked about the cherry flavor on his lips, Jared’s eyes widened slightly before he had a chance to school his features again. Jensen had been wearing cherry Chap Stick – he could taste it on his lips. “Uh, yeah,” Jared answered quickly. “My lips are chapped, and this was all I could find.” Luckily, Jeffrey seemed to buy it, which was good. “So um…what did you want to do now that you guys are back? I think Samantha’s making lunch, so we can just relax for once, if you want to.”

**~~**

Later that night, once Genevieve had gone to bed, Jeffrey headed towards Jensen’s room, knocking on the door softly in hopes that he didn’t wake the younger man if he was sleeping. When the door opened, Jeffrey smiled softly. “I didn’t wake you, did I, son?” he asked, nodding when Jensen shook his head. “Good, I’m glad. May I come in?” He muttered a small thank you when Jensen stepped aside before he walked into the room, sitting on the bed as he sighed softly. “You know, Jensen, you’re one of my best men. I’ve never had anyone quite like you in my circle. And for that, I have a lot of respect for you.” Reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small box, Jeffrey explained, “I’m going to ask Jared to marry me. What do you think?”

It wasn’t unusual for Jeffrey to confide in Jensen, so he wasn’t surprised when he started singing his praises, honestly. However, when Jeffrey explained that he wanted to marry Jared, it took everything Jensen had not to show how shocked and disappointed he was. Hell, he was having a hard time trying to control his anger. Jeffrey couldn’t marry Jared, dammit! He didn’t love him! Not like Jared deserved to be loved! Not like Jensen could love Jared. But he couldn’t exactly tell Jeffrey that without getting himself into trouble, so he merely nodded. “Congratulations,” he smiled. “Um…I think it’s a great idea. When…are you planning on asking him?” Maybe Jensen still had time to get Jared out of there before it was too late.

Jeffrey shrugged slightly when Jensen asked when he was going to ask. “I was thinking maybe tomorrow? I was going to have Samantha make us a nice breakfast and ask him out on the patio.” Tomorrow would make their seventh anniversary since Jared moved in, and Jeffrey thought that it would be special. “You don’t think it’s too cheesy to do it on the day our seventh anniversary of living together falls on?” He was very self-conscious about these kinds of things, and Jeffrey wanted to make this perfect for Jared.

Hell yes, it was cheesy, though Jensen wasn’t going to let Jeffrey know that. “No, I think it’s romantic, or whatever,” he assured his boss with a small smile. “I’m sure Jared will be happy, and he’ll probably say yes, too. I mean, he does love you, and you love him, so why shouldn’t you get married?” But did Jared really love Jeffrey? Jensen was under the impression that Jared was too young and naïve to know what he really wanted. After all, he had just been kissing him, so there was no telling how this was going to go. He just hoped that Jared said no, and Jensen got another chance to show him that they could be together. He could take Jared away from this place, away from this man, and they could be happy together.

Smiling softly, Jeffrey stood, clapping Jensen on the shoulder. “You’re a good man, Jensen,” he complimented before he headed out of the room and jogged up the stairs to Jared. He was really looking forward to getting Jared all to himself tonight because tomorrow was going to be a big day for him. Tomorrow they were going to have to start planning the wedding. Sure, it was going to be more of Jared’s thing, but Jeffrey would help with whatever he could. When he climbed into the bed however, Jeffrey frowned, quickly pulling back and yanking the covers off Jared, revealing the younger man’s clothed form. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Jared?” he demanded. “Are you purposely trying to piss me off, or are you just becoming stupid?!”

At first, Jared didn’t realize what he had done wrong until he looked down at himself. “Oh God, JD, I’m sorry,” he mumbled, scrambling to pull his shirt off. “It’s just when you were gone on your trip, I –” Before Jared had a chance to finish his sentence, Jeffrey lost control and slapped Jared across the cheek, silencing the younger man. 

“I don’t want to hear you’re excuses, Jared!” he hollered, his anger clear on his face and in his voice. “I only have a few simple rules, and I expect you to follow them!” When Jeffrey realized what he had done, he was shocked, quickly shoving himself out of the bed and moving to the door. “Jared, I’m so sorry,” he whispered softly, shaking his head. “You shouldn’t…make me angry. Pet, you know how I get.” Pulling the door open, Jeffrey headed out of the room, jogging down the stairs and out to his car. He peeled out of the driveway and headed off in the direction of Chad’s house, knowing that if he stayed here, he would do something to Jared that he’d regret.

For a long while after Jeffrey left, Jared just lay in the bed with tears sliding down his cheeks. He fucked up again. It seemed like that’s all he had been doing since Jeffrey got back, and now Jared was worried about what Jeffrey was going to do. If he hurt anyone Jared cared about because of this, he would never forgive himself. The thought of losing someone else that he loved was just too overwhelming, so Jared quickly pushed himself from the bed and ran down the stairs, pushing Jensen’s door open without even knocking. He wasn’t thinking clearly, otherwise he would have knocked, but it was too late now.

As soon as his door opened, Jensen turned towards the door out of instinct, knowing that everyone in the trusted circle just came in when they wanted to without knocking. Usually, he kept the door locked, but Jeffrey had just been in here so he hadn’t locked it yet. Seeing Jared standing there with a deep purpling bruise forming on his cheek, Jensen frowned, moving towards the younger man and knocking the door closed as he cupped Jared’s cheek in his hand. “Jared, what happened to you?” he asked, anger causing his blood to boil at the thought of someone touching Jared in a harmful way.

Not even bothering to answer Jensen, Jared quickly pushed Jensen’s hand off his face, holding Jensen’s wrist in his hand as he kissed the older man. His lips instantly parted, giving Jensen’s tongue the access it was begging for as Jared allowed the older man to push him back towards the door. “Don’t ask questions,” Jared ordered when the kiss broke and Jensen looked like he was about to speak again. “Just kiss me.” With that, Jared kissed Jensen again, reaching back with one hand and feeling for the door knob, quickly throwing the lock into place when he found it. He wasn’t planning on stopping with just kissing tonight. Jeffrey was gone, and Jared had no idea when he was coming back, so he was going to just let himself have what he wanted. After all, Jeffrey had hurt him – the older man deserved to feel the same hurt that Jared felt when his hand landed across Jared’s cheek.


	5. Chapter Five

Soft moans and groans filled the room as Jensen continued to ravage Jared’s mouth. He didn’t think he had ever been kissed so thoroughly and so well since he had gotten his first kiss in the ninth grade. Jensen was actually taking the time to all but make love to Jared’s mouth, whereas Jeffrey usually only kissed him roughly with tongues and teeth. Not Jensen; he was actually really good at this, and Jared was surprised that he was so okay with that. Jeffrey could walk in at any minute, but Jared didn’t care. The door was locked anyway, but still, if Jeffrey noticed that Jared was in here, it could all be over. Still, Jared couldn’t pull himself away from Jensen’s lips and teeth, returning the kiss for all he was worth.

Before he even realized what he was doing, Jared was pulling at Jensen’s shirt, pushing the material up off Jensen’s torso and yanking it off his body, tossing it onto the floor somewhere out of their way as his hands instantly groped the newly revealed flesh. He groaned softly once more as Jensen pulled him away from the door and started moving towards the bed, Jared losing his shirt, as well, along the way. “Are you sure you want to do this?” Jared asked between kisses and panted breaths. “Because if Jeffrey finds out, we’re both going to be in a lot of trouble – you more than me.”

“Yes,” Jensen assured Jared without hesitation. “I want to be with you. I have wanted to be with you for a while, but you would always run away from me.” Pushing Jared down onto the bed, Jensen blanketed the younger man’s body with his own. “You were terrified of me, and I didn’t know why. I mean, sometimes I thought it was for the best because of who you were, but other times it just drove me crazy.” His hands slid along Jared’s chest down to his waistband, Jensen’s thumbs hooking into the waistband of Jared’s sweat pants and tugging them down along with Jared’s boxers. “God Jay, I want you so badly.”

Another deep moan broke from Jared’s throat as Jensen’s hand wrapped around his hard cock, Jared’s hips moving on their own accord, begging for more. Jeffrey never touched him like this. When they had sex, it was all about him – as long as Jeffrey got off, everything was fine. In all of the years he and Jeffrey had been together and all of the times they had sex, Jared wasn’t even sure if he had come twice. He could already tell that Jensen was going to be a far more caring lover, which only turned him on more. His hands quickly shot to Jensen’s jeans, pulling at the fabric roughly in an attempt to pop the button and yank the zipper open. When that didn’t work as he had planned, Jared let out a small whine, head dropping a bit so he could look at what he was doing. “I want these off,” he complained, blushing slightly when Jensen chuckled at him and helped him remove the denim.

Now it was Jensen’s turn to moan as his hard member rubbed against Jared’s thigh, Jensen’s breathing picking up just a little more. “Mmm…feel so good, baby,” he mumbled into Jared’s neck before he pressed a light kiss to the tender skin. Never in a million years did he think something like this would be happening. And it was dangerous, for sure, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Hell, if Jeffrey burst through his door right now and saw them together, Jensen wasn’t even sure he would care. All that mattered to him right now was that he had Jared and he was finally going to get to be with Jared just like he wanted to be. “Are you sure _you_ want this?” he asked, just to make sure Jared really knew what he was doing here.

Without even taking a moment to think about it, Jared nodded, knowing exactly what he wanted without having to think too much about it. In all honesty, Jared had wanted this for a while, but he had been too worried to act upon it. After what Jeffrey did to him tonight, Jared just didn’t care anymore. Sure, in the morning, he would probably have a different frame of mind, but for right now, Jared just didn’t care. “Yes,” he mumbled, giving another small nod before his lips pressed against Jensen’s own. “Please…don’t ask questions. Don’t…try to analyze this. Just…be with me.”

He didn’t have to be told twice – Jensen’s lips crushed against Jared’s as another moan spilled from both their throats. If Jared didn’t want to talk, or have him analyze this, or whatever else, Jensen wasn’t going to push him into anything. After all, it wasn’t like Jensen wasn’t perfectly fine just being with Jared. Pulling back a little, Jensen trailed his lips downward, teasing Jared’s neck with his lips and teeth, a small smile coming to his lips when the younger man groaned in pleasure. It seemed that Jensen found one of Jared’s most sensitive areas, so he stored it away for later use. Maybe it would come in handy for the next time they did this.

As he continued to attack Jared’s neck, he reached into his nightstand and fished around for the lube, knowing that if he didn’t get inside Jared soon, he was going to go crazy with need. He barely suppressed the victory cry when he found it, pulling his hand from the drawer and tossing the tube onto the pillow beside Jared’s head before he crushed their lips together again, moaning softly when Jared’s fingers tangled in his hair. Jared was leaving no room for questions, letting Jensen know with each of his actions that he wanted this. And Jensen wanted this too, so there was nothing stopping them.

Before he could give himself any more time to dwell on what was about to happen here, Jared wrapped his leg around Jensen’s hip, pulling the older man closer as he raised his hips, rubbing his hard member against Jensen’s own, causing both men to groan softly once more. “Do it, Jen, please?” he whispered, breaths coming out in soft gasps. “I want you now…please?” He’d waited long enough trying to work up the courage to make a move on Jensen; Jared didn’t want to wait anymore. And judging by how hard Jensen was, he didn’t want to wait any longer either. Besides, Jeffrey could walk through the door at any minute and catch them – the excitement of that knowledge kind of turned Jared on a little more than it should have.

Hearing Jared beg him like that really made Jensen go crazy. “Yeah, okay,” he whispered softly, giving his head a small nod. Quickly, he grabbed the lube and popped off the cap, squeezing a generous amount into his palm before coating his fingers in the gel. Once he thought his fingers were slippery enough, he maneuvered Jared’s leg so that it was tossed over his shoulder and pushed his index finger into Jared’s tight pucker, biting into his bottom lip softly when he felt Jared’s inner muscles squeeze tightly around the digit. “Relax, baby,” he whispered, pressing a soft kiss to Jared’s abdomen as he started moving his finger a bit to open Jared up. After all, he didn’t want to hurt the younger man when they finally got to the good part. 

Jared did as he was told and the ache went away a little, Jared figuring that his body would accept any part of Jensen easily because he had been so needy for him the last few days. Not that he was complaining, of course. The less pain, the better in his opinion. After all, he was staring at Jensen’s naked body and it wasn’t like he was lacking in the genital region; he was very well proportioned, which was another thing that made Jared kind of nervous. He just hoped that if it was going to hurt, the pain didn’t last long before it was overridden by the inevitable pleasure.

Once he thought Jared was ready for it, Jensen added a second finger, scissoring the digits inside Jared slowly, knowing that even with Jared’s body willingly accepting Jensen, this was going to hurt a little bit. He hadn’t been with many people, but he’d been with enough to know that preparation was key. If he went at this too fast, there was a chance he could hurt Jared, and that was the last thing he wanted. After a few more moments, Jensen added a third finger, biting into Jared’s thigh gently, moaning possessively to let Jared know he was his, just in case there was any confusion. 

Finally, Jensen felt that Jared was ready for his cock and he pulled his fingers away from Jared, moving to sit on his knees once more. “Are you ready, baby?” Jensen asked softly, leaning over Jared and pressing his face into the crook of the younger man’s neck, breathing in his lover’s scent before he kissed his skin. 

Was he ready? That was the dumbest question Jared had ever heard. Of course he was ready! “Mmm-hmm…” he mumbled, nodding slightly as Jensen kissed his way to Jared’s shoulder. Suddenly, Jared remembered that they were forgetting a very crucial part of sex, causing him to panic a little bit. “Wait…” he whispered, scrunching his shoulders up to make Jensen stop kissing his neck and shoulder. “Jensen, w-wait,” he repeated, pulling his head back to look at Jensen’s face when the older man pulled back. “Do-Do you have a condom?” he asked, cheeks reddening at the question.

Fuck, a condom! Jensen knew that he had been forgetting something when he’d been fishing around in the nightstand for the lube. Dammit, he couldn’t believe that he’d forget something like this. “Uh, yeah, just give me a second,” he mumbled, reaching for the nightstand drawer again and feeling around for the condoms he knew he kept in there somewhere. He didn’t bring people over here, but he had condoms, right? The last time he’d been in there, he thought he’d seen them. Then again, maybe that was his other apartment.

After what felt like forever, Jensen finally found the condoms, tearing the package open with his teeth so he didn’t have to stop touching Jared with his one hand. The feel of Jared’s skin was amazing after all, and he loved touching him. Jensen made quick work of getting the condom onto his erect member, tossing the package across the room as he shoved Jared onto his back again, the younger man having sat up when he realized they didn’t have a condom. Now there was nothing that could stop them from having sex, which is just what Jensen wanted. He kept his movements slow as he pushed into Jared, kissing and nipping at the younger man’s lips to distract him from the pain that he was feeling. Soon, it would all be replaced with pleasure, but until then, Jensen wanted to help in any way he could. Sure, it wasn’t a lot, but it was at least something.

As Jensen pushed into him, Jared gripped his lover’s shoulders, focusing on the kisses and not the pain that was shooting up his spine. Thankfully, once Jensen was sheathed to the hilt inside him, the pain didn’t last long, fading away quickly and leaving only pleasure and a deep feeling of want. Jared quickly hooked his leg around Jensen’s thigh again, keeping Jensen in place as his kisses grew hungrier and needier. “Jensen, please…fuck me,” Jared whispered desperately, already pushing back against Jensen’s cock inside him. “Please?”

It would have been cruel of Jensen not to give Jared what he needed, especially when he was begging so prettily, so Jensen began moving. He pulled his hips back, almost pulling completely out of Jared before he slammed back in, the bed rocking with their movements as they became more desperate and rougher. The way Jared was panting and moaning in his ear was enough to drive Jensen crazy, kicking his lust up a few notches. Just as he felt his balls drawing up against his body, Jensen let out a loud groan, head dropping to the crook of Jared’s neck as he spilled his seed into the younger man’s body, both their bodies shuddering with the intensity of their combined orgasms.

When he finally gave Jared every last drop that he could, Jensen felt sated and more amazing than he’d ever felt before after sex, barely remembering to roll off Jared before he collapsed onto the mattress. Now maybe Jared would truly be his. Maybe Jared would leave Jeffrey for good and be with him, and the thought had Jensen smiling softly. “Mmm…” he moaned as he rolled onto his side, arm wrapping around Jared’s waist, not caring that he was coating his arm with Jared’s cum. “That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced, I think,” Jensen mumbled as he tore the condom from his softening dick and tossed it into the trash before nuzzling into Jared’s neck, breathing in the younger man’s scent.

At this point, all Jared was capable of was a small nod to let Jensen know that he had been listening. His eyes were slipping closed before he even knew what was happening, the young man falling into a light sleep in the arms of his new lover. When the sun came up tomorrow morning, they were going to have a lot to deal with, but for now, Jared just wanted to enjoy this peaceful bliss he felt in this moment. It was perfect. But he knew that he couldn’t stay here like this. After all, if Jeffrey came back and Jared wasn’t in his bed, there would be hell to pay. Still, he could indulge for a few more minutes, he supposed.

Once Jared could feel Jensen’s breaths evening out, letting him know that the older man had fallen asleep, Jared slowly moved from the bed, making sure not to wake Jensen and headed out of the room. He wanted to stay with Jensen, but the risk was just too great. If Jeffrey found out what happened, there was no telling what he would do to Jensen, and Jared couldn’t live with the possibility of Jensen being hurt because of him. And it didn’t matter that he wanted to be with Jensen more than he wanted to be with Jeffrey; sometimes he had to make sacrifices to keep the people he cared about safe. It was probably better this way anyway. Jensen was probably better off without him; and although their time together just now had been great, better than anything Jared had ever experienced before, it couldn’t happen again. Not ever.

**~~**

The next morning, Jensen woke to find the other side of his bed empty, the older man frowning softly. Honestly, he wasn’t surprised that Jared had left the bed in the middle of the night. It just hurt a little bit. Maybe he was wrong about Jared finally leaving Jeffrey and being with him. After all, it was just a crazy idea anyway because Jared was so terrified of Jeffrey. And rightfully so – Jared had to walk on eggshells around Jeffrey because he was worried about the people he loved. It only made Jensen want to close this case more than ever. Once that was done, he and Jared could be together freely. Well, that was if Jared even wanted to have a relationship with him. Maybe last night was a one-time thing for them. But Jared didn’t seem like that kind of guy. Then again, he didn’t really know him all that well. 

With a small sigh, Jensen pushed himself out of the bed, grabbing a pair of sweat pants and pulling them on before he left the room and headed towards the kitchen. “Morning Sam,” he muttered softly, sliding onto one of the stools. “Is Jared up yet?” he asked hopefully, eyeing the woman cautiously because she was giving him a look that could only mean she wanted to talk about something. Jensen had no idea what it was, but he had a feeling he wasn’t going to like it. Maybe she’d heard him and Jared last night, which wasn’t a good sign. After all, they had been pretty loud.

“He’s still in bed,” Samantha answered with a small smile. “He had a pretty late night last night, I guess.” A small chuckle escaped her when Jensen’s cheek reddened at her words. “Don’t worry, sweetie, I won’t blow your secret,” she assured him, setting a plate of French toast in front of him. “But you guys might want to tone it down a little bit if you’re going to be doing that in the mansion. I mean, it’s risky – Jeffrey could have walked in here at any minute. And if I heard you guys, I’m sure the rest of the house did too.”

Nodding, Jensen gave her a small smile. “Yeah, it just kind of happened,” he explained sheepishly. “Jared came in my room last night and he had a bruise on his cheek. I asked him what happened, and instead of answering me, he kissed me. And then one thing led to another.” Not that Jensen was complaining about that. “I think Jeffrey might have hit him,” Jensen confided in Samantha softly, frowning at the older woman. “But I thought Jeffrey was nice to Jared. Why would he hit him?”

Sadly, Samantha knew about Jeffrey’s temper, and if Jared did something wrong, or said something wrong, Jeffrey could have hit him. After all, the other man had been in somewhat of a bad mood after the party last night. “He might have hit him,” she answered with a small nod. “If he did something he wasn’t supposed to, Jeffrey could have lost his temper. And then he could have left because he was so upset that he’d hurt Jared. Maybe that’s what brought Jared to your room – he was probably looking for safety and comfort, which he must see in you.”

Again, Jensen nodded, letting Samantha know that he understood what she was saying. “God, I could just kick Jeffrey’s ass for hurting Jared. And then at the same time, I want to thank him for being such a dick so Jared came to me last night.” Of course, Jensen knew that he couldn’t do either one because he was supposed to be one of Jeffrey’s guys in the inner circle, so Jeffrey had to trust him. Still, that didn’t squelch the want to do it – hell, it may have made him want to do it even more. He didn’t like the fact that Jeffrey was hurting Jared, and he surely didn’t like the fact that there was nothing he could do about it. 

A few minutes later, Jared walked into the kitchen, a deep, purple bruise on the side of his cheek where Jeffrey’s hand had landed the night before. He smiled softly at Jensen before sliding into the stool next to him and taking the French toast that was offered to him. Samantha quickly excused herself after she handed Jared his plate, leaving Jensen and Jared alone in the room. “Morning,” Jared smiled timidly, taking a bite of his food. This was awkward now because he didn’t know what to say to Jensen anymore. Not that he had any clue what to say to him before either, but this seemed different.

Jensen smiled at the greeting, eyes scanning the area quickly before he leaned in and pressed his lips to Jared’s, frowning when the younger man pulled away too quickly. “Morning,” he greeted, the smile he gave Jared not as sincere as Jared would have hoped. “So…I missed you this morning in bed. You didn’t have to leave my room. I wouldn’t have been mad if you stayed there the night.” Jensen knew that wasn’t why Jared left, but he felt the need to say it anyway. Maybe if Jared could see how serious he was about this, he would fight to be with him. Jensen and his team could keep Misha safe if Jared was so worried about that.

At the mention of how he’d left Jensen’s bed last night, Jared frowned, giving a small nod. “I know you wouldn’t have been mad,” he assured the older man. “But I had to leave. I had to make sure that Jeffrey didn’t find me in there. If he would have, only bad could have come from it, Jen.” Biting into his bottom lip, Jared explained, “That’s why we can’t ever do that again. It’s too dangerous. I don’t want you to get hurt because of me. Last night was… _amazing_ , but it can’t happen again, Jensen. I’m sorry.”

He couldn’t believe this. Jared was actually going to tell him this couldn’t happen again?! Well, Jensen wasn’t going to accept that. Cupping the side of Jared’s cheek, Jensen turned his face so he was looking at him, shaking his head slightly. “I don’t accept that,” he whispered. “I can handle myself. I can make sure Jeffrey doesn’t hurt me, or you, or anyone you care about, Jared.” When Jared tried to turn his face again, Jensen forced him to look into his eyes once more. “You don’t have to be afraid of him, Jay. We can be together. I know you want me, too. And I’m not giving you up because of him. I can’t.”

This hurt a lot more than he thought it was going to, but Jared knew it needed to be done. “You have to,” he argued, pushing Jensen’s hand away from him. “I won’t be responsible for you, or anyone getting hurt. I’m with Jeffrey, Jen, and you just have to accept that!” Quickly, Jared pushed himself out of his chair and started towards the stairs, only to have Jensen grab his arm and stop him. “Let me go, Jen,” Jared ordered, trying to get out of the older man’s grip. But Jensen was trained to keep people where he wanted them so he could take care of them in any way Jeffrey saw fit, so Jared didn’t know what made him think he was going to get away. 

“You don’t mean that,” Jensen assured the younger man confidently. “Jared, I know you want to be with me just as badly as I want to be with you. And I know that you’re only trying to push me away because you’re scared of what Jeffrey will do to the people you love. I can protect you, and I can protect them. Please…don’t let him rule your life like this!” Giving his head a small shake, Jensen tugged Jared closer, his free hand moving to cup the side of Jared’s face. “Jeffrey isn’t the person you want to be with, and you shouldn’t have to sacrifice your happiness because of him.”

It would have been nice to believe Jensen and just press his lips to the other man’s like he had last night without a care in the world, but he couldn’t. Jared had to stay away from Jensen and make himself understand he couldn’t be this way. He couldn’t be with Jensen while Jeffrey was still such a threat; it wasn’t possible. “You don’t understand. Jeffrey’s more powerful than you can even imagine, Jensen. If he wants to punish me, he can.” Shaking his head once more, Jared continued, “And he loves me. I-I should be happy to be with someone who cares about me like Jeffrey does.”

He couldn’t believe Jared was saying this. “He loves you?” Jensen asked with a small chuckle. “Is that why he hit you? Because he loves you?” Seeing Jared’s eyes go wide, Jensen knew that he guessed right about where that bruise had come from, and it made his insides churn. “If he really loved you Jared, he wouldn’t have hit you! People don’t do that to people they love!” Stroking Jared’s cheek, Jensen whispered, “I’d never hurt you, baby.”

Now Jared could see that he was going to have to be a little harsher to get through to Jensen. He didn’t want to be mean, but he had to make Jensen hate him; it was the only way to keep him safe. Angrily, he pulled his arm away from Jensen and yelled, “You don’t know anything about our relationship! He does love me. And I love him! We’re very happy together and you’re just going to have to accept that, Jensen!” Lowering his voice a little bit, Jared added, “Last night was a one-time thing. It’s never going to happen again. So…just forget about it!”

With that, Jared stormed out of the kitchen, holding back the tears that were threatening to fall down his cheeks. The truth of the matter was that he didn’t really love Jeffrey. In all honesty, Jared wanted to be with Jensen, but he knew that it wasn’t going to happen. Jeffrey was never going to let him go, and Jared had accepted that. But now Jensen was in his life, and he was making it hard to keep accepting the fact that he was stuck with Jeffrey. Not when happiness was so close, yet so far away. Everything was so complicated right now, yet Jared still couldn’t find it in himself to regret what happened last night. 

Because he wasn’t paying attention to where he was walking, Jared ran into Mark, one of Jeffrey’s most sadistic, cruel henchmen. He was called in when Jeffrey needed to have someone assassinated, and he _enjoyed_ doing the work. Both Mark and his creepy partner Frederic. Jared tried to steer clear of them as much as possible, and now he had just run right into him. “M-Mark,” he stuttered in fear, licking his lips slightly. “Um…I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention. I…didn’t mean to run into you.” 

When he tried to move around Mark, the other man stepped in his way again, eyeing Jared hungrily. “You really should watch where you’re going, Padalecki,” he growled softly, head tilting to the side as he continued to size Jared up. “You’ve really gained some muscle mass, haven’t you?” he asked suddenly, his hand moving to touch Jared’s chest, sliding downwards towards his crotch. He growled once more when Jared tried to stop him from moving his hand lower, shoving Jared into the wall behind him. Jeffrey always used to share his playthings before, and Mark didn’t see why Jared should be any different. “Don’t try to fight me off, pet,” he snarled cruelly. “I’ll break both your arms and then have my way with you.”

Jared didn’t understand what was going on here. Jeffrey had made it very clear to everyone when Jared first came here that no one else was to touch him, but apparently Mark hadn’t gotten the instructions. “You’re…not s-supposed to touch me,” Jared explained, fighting his instincts to push Mark away because he knew that Mark wasn’t joking about breaking his arms. He was a sadist, after all – he’d probably get off on causing Jared pain. A small whimper left him as he squeezed his eyes closed, groaning softly when Mark told him how hot he was and waiting for Mark’s hand to slide lower, feeling more powerless than he had ever felt in his life.

Luckily for Jared, Jensen had decided to come after Jared and talk more about last night. Angrily, he shoved Mark off the younger man, standing between Mark and Jared. “Don’t fucking touch him, you moron,” he growled, his tone leaving no room for argument. “You know Jeffrey said we’re not supposed to touch this one. If he finds out what you were trying to do just now, I don’t think he’ll be too happy with you.” Taking a step closer to Mark, Jensen warned, “I’d hate to see you lose your job, or worse, your _life_ because you were trying to fuck with Jared. Now get the hell out of here before I kick your ass myself.”

It was obvious that Mark wasn’t pleased about having to leave, though he did so, mumbling something about Jensen being a suck up as he sulked out of the mansion. It was no secret that Jensen was hated by most of the other men in the inner circle, but he didn’t care. After all, Jensen hated all of them too, so it wasn’t like it upset him that they weren’t fans of his. He was only here to be the downfall of Morgan Enterprises and to throw every last one of their asses in a cell for the rest of their pathetic lives; he didn’t want to be their friends. 

Turning towards Jared, Jensen cupped the younger man’s cheek once more, capturing his eyes. “Hey, are you all right?” he asked, his concern not only clear in his voice, but also in his caring green eyes. How could Jared not want to be with someone like Jensen? Even if he didn’t agree with the kind of work Jensen did and he was honestly a little scared of the older man at times? There was no denying the way he felt about Jensen, and he knew it was probably going to be the death of him, and maybe even Jensen and Misha, but he couldn’t care about that enough to make the feelings go away.

“Y-Yeah,” he whispered softly, giving his head a small nod to emphasize his point. “I’m fine. He didn’t hurt me.” Licking his lips, Jared took a few more minutes to allow Jensen to comfort him before he gently pulled away, still trying to distance himself from Jensen if at all possible. “Thank you.” Jensen still held his regard because Jared couldn’t pull his gaze away from the older man’s warm, welcoming look. It was almost like being hypnotized and forced to keep the eye contact they had, and Jared wished he could stop it. Before he knew what was happening, his lips crushed against Jensen’s, memories of last night flashing behind his lids as he moaned softly, hands fisting in Jensen’s short-cropped hair. 

This was wrong, and Jared knew it, but it wasn’t enough to make him pull away as he allowed Jensen’s tongue the access into his mouth that it was seeking. After all, Jeffrey had sent him a text message earlier that morning apologizing for hitting him and then explaining that he wouldn’t be home until later that evening, so there was no fear of being caught. He’d seen Mark’s tail lights in the window as he sped out of the driveway and Genevieve was off with Jeffrey wherever he was, so there was no one here who would care that they were kissing. And it just felt so damn good!

However, the kissing soon led to more, Jared allowing Jensen to lead him to his bedroom again, Jensen kicking the door closed and throwing the lock into place as soon as they were in the room. The bed springs groaned softly under their weight as they fell onto the bed in a tangled mess of limbs, but their lips didn’t lose contact until they broke for air, breaths panting out against each other’s kiss-swollen lips. So much for this never happening again.


	6. Chapter Six

“What do you mean they don’t have any meanings behind them?” Jared asked with a small chuckle as his finger traced along one of the tribal tattoos along Jensen’s bicep. “All tattoos have meaning behind them. I mean, you’re stuck with this design on your body for the rest of your life, so there has to be some kind of meaning.” Pressing a kiss to Jensen’s neck, Jared pleaded, “Tell me? I promise I’ll keep it a secret if you want me to. And I won’t laugh if it’s something really ridiculous or funny.”

Chuckling softly, Jensen assured Jared, “There really is no meaning behind any of them. I just thought they were cool and got them tattooed on my body.” Rolling over so that he was lying on his back, Jensen carded his fingers through Jared’s hair, pulling the younger man into a deep, passionate kiss. “Besides, if you have tattoos, people are more likely to be afraid of you. It’s good for my image. That’s it – that’s the story behind the tattoos.” He chuckled once more when Jared pouted before he captured that protruding lower lip between his teeth, moaning softly as his teasing quickly turned into another kiss.

This had been happening more often than not lately; Jeffrey would go away on more business trips or storm out of the house when he was angry and be gone for days, leaving Jared alone to indulge in some quality time with Jensen. Sure, sometimes Jared was still worried about Jeffrey finding out and he would try to pull away from Jensen, but Jensen wouldn’t let him succeed. He’d even started taking Jared to his other apartment so he wouldn’t worry about anyone finding them together. After all, no one else knew about Jensen’s second apartment because he came here to get away from everything involving the Jeffrey Dean Morgan case. Of course, Jared didn’t know that he was an FBI agent yet, so he just thought Jensen came here to have a little privacy, which wasn’t exactly all a lie.

Suddenly, Jensen’s phone rang, causing the older man to groan as he grabbed the mobile device and looked at the caller ID. He frowned deeply when he saw Mark’s name flashing on the screen, quickly silencing the phone and continuing to kiss Jared. He would often ignore people in Jeffrey’s inner circle because he found them all to be psychotic and sadistic, which wasn’t his style. Sure, he could play a really good badass, but he wasn’t really like that. In reality, Jensen was probably one of the nicest people in the world, and he would never hurt anyone unless it was absolutely necessary.

A small moan left Jared as he broke the kiss, glancing at Jensen’s cell phone. “Who was that?” he asked, hoping that it wasn’t Jeffrey. If Jeffrey was calling Jensen, that meant there was something he needed from him, and Jared wasn’t ready to give Jensen back just yet. He wasn’t ready to go back to the mansion and pretend that everything between him and Jeffrey was fine because it wasn’t. Over the last few months since he’d allowed himself to be with Jensen, Jared kept finding more and more reasons that he didn’t want to be with Jeffrey. Being in that mansion with him now was more like torture than a life.

Jensen gave his head a small shake as he answered, “It was just Mark. Don’t worry about it.” His fingers tangled in Jared’s hair again as he tugged Jared’s head closer to his own. “Kiss me again,” he whispered before his lips pressed against Jared’s, their tongues tangling almost instantly. He loved just being with Jared and kissing him. They didn’t even have to be having sex for Jensen to enjoy himself. He’d be happy if they were just curled up on the couch together watching television – as long as he was with Jared, he was fine with whatever they were doing. Not that he would complain if they were going to have sex – it was definitely a fun aspect of their new relationship. 

Again, Jensen groaned as his cell phone started ringing, this time Jensen answering it without looking to see who was calling. “What?!” he barked into the phone, rolling his eyes when Jim started yelling at him for taking a tone. Jensen knew how much Jim hated it when he took a tone with him because he was such an old-fashioned kind of guy. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled into the phone, rolling his eyes once more. If he had been in the same room with Jim, that would have gotten him yelled at too, but he wasn’t too worried about that now. “He wants to talk to me right now?” he asked, glancing at Jared briefly before he sighed. “Yeah, all right, I’ll be there as soon as I can be.”

A deep frown came to his lips as he continued to listen to Jim on the other line, Jensen’s eyes widening slightly. “What do you mean he’s on his way right now?!” he demanded, shocked that Jim would give the location to his apartment to someone they barely knew. “Well, yeah, I’m here, but I’m not ready for company!” He groaned softly when Jim hung up on him, tossing his phone onto the nightstand and grabbing a pair of sweat pants, yanking them onto his body before he started searching for a shirt. “You have to get dressed…now,” Jensen explained, tossing Jared his shirt and his boxers.

Before Jared had a chance to ask any questions, there was a knock on the door, Jensen groaning softly as he pulled the blankets over Jared’s naked body. “Just…don’t move,” he instructed, pressing a hungry kiss to Jared’s lips and moving towards the door. If he could just make the visitor stay outside, it wouldn’t be bad. Maybe his cover wouldn’t be blown. Unfortunately, that was a lot easier said than done. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Jensen?” Misha demanded as he pushed his way through the door, ignoring his surroundings and focusing only on Jensen. “You’re a fucking FBI agent who was sent to take Morgan down, not fuck my brother! Do you know what could happen if Jeffrey finds out about the two of you?! He’ll probably kill you and he might even hurt Jared! This has to stop! I mean, I know I was all for the two of you getting together before I found out that you were working undercover, but now I think it’s a terrible idea. Jared shouldn’t have to worry about getting caught being with you! I mean, I’m all for Jared being happy, and everything, but not at the possible cost of his life, Jensen!”

Done with his rant, Misha finally realized that Jared was lying in the bed not two feet away from him, his eyes widening slightly. “Jared, what are you doing here?” he asked, turning his attention from his brother back to Jensen and smiling sheepishly. He wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about Jensen being part of the FBI, and now he supposed that he kind of just exposed Jensen for his true self. 

Dumbstruck, Jared merely shook his head, not sure what to say in this situation. “I…was here with Jensen,” he stated the obvious, licking his lips as he pulled the blankets tighter around his waist. He hadn’t had time to get dressed before Misha had barged through the door, and now he was finding it hard to move at all. Jensen was part of the FBI? Well, this changed everything! If it hadn’t been dangerous for them to be together before, it was even more dangerous now! Jared should have known this would never work! But no, he had to be selfish, and now he very well may lose everything. One thing was for certain – he had to break this off once and for all. Quickly, he grabbed his boxers and pulled them on, his shirt soon following. “Um…I should go. Jeffrey’s going to be home soon, so you should probably get me back to the mansion.”

The minute Jared started to get dressed, Jensen knew they were going to have another episode where Jared insisted they needed to break this off. Damn Misha should have kept his mouth shut, and none of this would have happened! Jensen was going to tell Jared who he really was, but he was waiting for the right moment. Now, all of that was ruined because Misha had to barge in here and express his unwanted opinions. “Jay, please don’t do this,” Jensen started, reaching for the younger man though Jared dodged his touch. “Please? This doesn’t change anything!”

Frowning deeply, Jared shook his head as he rounded on Jensen. “It changes everything!” he yelled, glancing at Misha briefly before turning his attention to the floor. He didn’t want to have this argument in front of his brother. “You lied to me about who you are. Do you have any idea how much more danger you’re in now? Jeffrey won’t hesitate to take you out if he finds out who you are. And I can’t…be with you knowing that I’m risking your life even more now. I could barely handle it before I found out who you are, but now it’s over, Jensen. It has to be.”

Quickly, Jensen shook his head, knowing that he’d get Jared to change his mind eventually. And while he wasn’t too thrilled having this conversation with Misha in the room, he wasn’t going to hold back. “You know it’s not over. It’s _never_ going to be over because you love me, and you know it!” This time when he reached for Jared, the younger man didn’t move away, allowing Jensen to grab his wrist and keep him in place. “You can’t end this because you want this, want _me_ too much. If you didn’t, you would have ended it months ago when you tried the first time.”

In all honesty, Misha felt a little uncomfortable being in the room with Jensen and Jared if they were going to talk like this around each other. He may not have been happy about their relationship, but he could tell that Jared really cared about Jensen, so he would support his brother’s decision. Though he knew that if Jared thought he wasn’t happy with the relationship, he would sacrifice his own happiness just so Misha would be all right. So, he knew that he had to speak up about this. “Jared, I want you to be happy,” he assured his brother. “And it’s obvious that Jensen makes you happy, so although I’m worried about this relationship you’ve started with him, I support your decision.” Smiling softly at his brother, he assured the younger man, “We can make this work. I mean, we always seem to make things work, right?”

As if having Misha’s approval sealed the deal, Jared nodded, smiling at his brother before turning his attention back to Jensen. “We have to be even more careful now,” he explained, licking his lips. “If Jeffrey finds out about us Jensen, everything will be ruined. And I can’t bear to see you hurt.” If something happened to Jensen, Jared wasn’t sure he would be able to survive it. He’d lost too many people close to him, and he knew that if he lost Jensen, it would be the final straw.

“Nothing’s going to happen, baby,” he whispered, giving his head a small shake. “I promise. I’ve been working this case for years now and he’s never suspected anything. Everything’s going to be fine – I promise.” Quickly, Jensen pulled Jared against him, pressing their lips together hungrily, using the kiss to reassure his lover that they were going to be fine. Neither of them realized when Misha slipped out of the room, both men too wrapped up in the other to notice much of anything else. 

He could hear Jared whispering something about his safety, but Jensen wasn’t really paying attention as he attacked Jared’s neck with his lips and teeth, pushing the younger man back against the mattress now that they were on the bed again, holding Jared down so he could have his way with him, not that Jared minded. “If you’re so worried about it, run away with me,” he suggested softly. “Jeffrey will never find us. We’ll go somewhere no one will be able to find us.” He knew that it was just a pipe dream, but it was a good plan nonetheless.

A small chuckle escaped Jared when Jensen suggested that they run away. “Not without my brother,” he answered, more than happy to run as long as he could keep the people he cared about safe too. He wasn’t too worried about Jeffrey hurting Samantha, Matt, and Sebastian because they were his servants and he’d never threatened them before, so he figured they’d be fine. But he knew that if he disappeared, Misha would be the first person Jeffrey went after. And until Misha was safe, Jared had to keep up with the act of being in love, and being happy with Jeffrey. Even if the very thought of the older man touching him now made his gorge rise and made him feel a little dizzy.

Jensen moaned softly when Jared told him they could leave if they took Misha with them. “I’ll get my team to protect Misha,” he explained, everyone at the station already having agreed to protect both Misha and Jared if something happened to Jensen. Of course, they all insisted nothing was ever going to happen to Jensen, but they agreed nonetheless. After all, in this business, nothing was guaranteed when it came to the agent’s life. Pushing Jared’s shirt up to reveal the younger man’s perfect abs, Jensen groaned softly, his teeth scraping against Jared’s toned flesh. “You’re so beautiful, baby,” he whispered softly, his hands moving to pull Jared’s boxers down his thighs.

When Jensen called him beautiful, Jared frowned, slowly pushing himself into a seated position and giving his head a small shake. “Don’t…say that,” he mumbled softly, his cheeks reddening slightly. He had a hard time allowing people to compliment him after being with Jeffrey. Every time Jeffrey would compliment him, he would make it sound so… _wrong_ that Jared actually took it as a criticism. But Jensen always made it sound so good, it just confused Jared. He didn’t like it at all. Honestly, Jared still wasn’t sure why Jeffrey picked him in the first place, and he certainly had no clue what Jensen saw in him. As far as he was concerned, he was nothing more than a toy, a _pet_ – something for Jeffrey to lay claim on and manipulate by threatening to hurt the people he cared about more than anything in the world. There was nothing special, or beautiful, about him. 

At first, Jensen didn’t know what he’d done to upset Jared, but it quickly hit him, the older man sighing softly as he wrapped his arms around Jared’s waist. “Baby, you really need to get over this,” he mumbled, pressing a kiss to the nape of Jared’s neck. “You are beautiful, and if anyone tries to tell you differently, they’re wrong.” Again, he pressed a kiss to Jared’s neck. “You’re my beautiful boyfriend, and you’re amazing. So stop trying to over analyze this and let me just compliment you like you deserve to be complimented.” Turning Jared’s head so he could press a kiss to the younger man’s lips, Jensen smiled softly. “All right? Can you do that?”

Smiling, Jared slowly nodded, kissing Jensen again. “I can try,” he promised. “But it might take a while for me to be comfortable with all of this.” Again, he pressed a kiss to Jensen’s lips, slowly turning his body so that he was facing Jensen completely now, pushing his lover onto his back and straddling the older man. He was about to pull Jensen’s shirt off when Jensen’s cell phone rang again, causing both men to groan in frustration. “You should probably answer that. If you keep ignoring them, they’re going to think something’s wrong. I mean, we shouldn’t make them suspicious of you.”

Although he wanted to ignore the call again, Jensen knew that Jared was right, grabbing the phone and flipping it open. “Yeah?” he answered, his hand slowly sliding down Jared’s chest and over his abdomen as he listened to Jeffrey telling him that they needed to have a meeting right away. He frowned softly when Jeffrey asked where he was, knowing that there would be no way to get Jared into the mansion without being detected. “I took Jared shopping. He wanted to get something for you to apologize for last night, but he hasn’t found anything yet. Do you want me there now?” When Jeffrey told him yes, Jensen frowned, having hoped to get a few more minutes with Jared. “All right, I’ll let him know we have to leave. I’ll be there as soon as I can be.”

With that, Jensen hung up the phone, leaning up to kiss Jared one last time before they had to leave. “Jeffrey wants to see me,” he explained unhappily. “We gotta go.” He felt oddly empty when Jared crawled off his lap, Jensen sighing as he righted his clothes, pulling his black T-shirt on over his wife beater and heading to the door, closing it and locking it once Jared was out of the room. Jensen always hated the part when they had to leave and go back to the mansion – the sooner he could nail Jeffrey and get Jared away from him, the happier Jensen was going to be. But for right now, he had to play his role and just gather as much information on the other man as he could. It was a crappy, long, and boring process, but it was also necessary.

**~~**

Jeffrey frowned as he pushed himself out of the large chair he’d been sitting in, turning his attention away from the computer screen and back on Frederic and Mark. “Make sure he suffers before you kill him,” Jeffrey instructed, giving the computer screen one last glare. He couldn’t believe that all of this time Jensen had been a cop. Jeffrey had confided in Jensen more than he had done with anyone over the years, and now he’d come to realize that it had all been a lie; just a cruel ploy to get him in jail. He’d never felt so betrayed. And to learn that Jared was fucking him behind his back was even more upsetting. “And make sure that Chad gets the money he deserves for supplying us with this information. If it hadn’t been for him, we would still have a suit in our mix.”

Sighing softly, Jeffrey walked out of the room, knowing Mark and Frederic would come out of their hiding spaces when Jensen finally arrived. When they got here, he was going to show Jared what happened when he was disloyal. Never in a million years did he think that Jared would cheat on him, but he was wrong. It made him sick. After everything he’d done for Jared, and this was how the little slut repaid him! Well, Jeffrey was going to make sure Jared knew exactly what it meant to be a slut; when he was done with him, Jared would be begging for mercy, which Jeffrey didn’t plan on showing him. Not after what he’d done to him.

A few minutes later, Jeffrey saw Jensen’s car pulling into the driveway, his blood boiling at the thought of what Jensen and Jared could have been doing, and where they had really been. Probably holed up in a motel room somewhere getting each other off. After all, that’s all Jared was good for he supposed now that he knew Jared really was nothing more than a whore like those others who worked in his clubs. Maybe he had been wrong all those years ago when he brought Jared here – he’d thought there was something different about Jared, but now he saw there wasn’t anything different about him. He was just like the others, dammit!

Originally, Jeffrey had planned on waiting a few minutes before he went off on the two cheaters, but when he saw them come close enough, his vision went red and he just lashed out. His fist landed hard against Jensen’s jaw, the element of surprise working in his favor. “You sonuvabitch,” he growled, grabbing Jensen by the jacket and throwing another punch. “I trusted you!” When Jared tried to grab him and make him stop, Jeffrey shoved him away, back handing the younger man and sending him into the nearby wall. “And you – you’re even worse than him! I loved you, and I thought you loved me back! But now I find out that you’re nothing but a whore! You make me sick, Jared!”

Just as he was regaining his footing, Jensen was grabbed from behind, Mark holding one arm and Frederic holding his other arm, keeping him upright so Jeffrey could land another punch to his gut, causing Jensen to double over, groaning in pain. “Get him inside,” Jeffrey ordered, moving further into the mansion and waiting for Mark to close the door before he hit Jensen again, glaring at the younger man. “Did you really think you could fool me forever? Or at least until you got some kind of hard evidence to take me down? Well, you should know by now that I’m untouchable, Jensen. No one can get anything on me! And you are an idiot to even try!”

His head was pounding where it had hit against the wall, but Jared knew that he had to do something here. Jeffrey knew now and Jared needed to do something before Jensen was seriously injured. Wasting no time, Jared pushed away from the wall and shoved Jeffrey away from Jensen. “Stop it!” he yelled, hoping that it would at least distract Jeffrey long enough for Jensen to break free. Maybe there was still a chance they could get out of here unharmed. But how did Jeffrey even find out?! He and Jensen had been so careful! Someone must have found out and tipped him off. But who could have done that? As far as Jared knew, Samantha, Sebastian, and Matt were the only ones who knew about them, and they wouldn’t rat them out. He knew they wouldn’t; they were his friends!

When Jared shoved Jeffrey, Jensen took the opportunity to knock Mark and Frederic free. Two against one was at least a little fairer than three against one. He could deal with these odds as he pushed Mark away from him, grabbing Jared’s arm and pulling him backwards so that he was standing behind him. Jensen wasn’t sure what they were going to do now because his gun was in the car, but he knew if they stayed here, nothing good could come from it. Hell, if they stayed here, there was a chance they weren’t going to make it out alive. When Mark came at him again, Jensen landed a blow across his cheek, sending him backwards into Jeffrey who was advancing again. “Go to the car and get my gun,” Jensen ordered, shoving Jared out the door as Frederic advanced on him, getting a good hit and sending Jensen to his knees.

In all honesty, Jared was surprised he got as far as he did before anyone tried grabbing him, the young man actually making it to the car and grabbing the pistol and turning around just in time to see Mark coming after him. Without thinking, Jared squeezed the trigger, gasping softly when Mark’s dead body hit the ground. He didn’t have time to dwell on it as he heard Jensen cry out in pain, Jared quickly ran towards the house, pointing the gun at Frederic. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get a good shot on the other man because he was worried he’d hit Jensen instead.

Seeing that Jared was trying to shoot Frederic, Jensen fought harder, knowing that if he could just get the upper hand, he could give Jared a good shot. Fortunately for Jensen, he had military training and he was able to use one of the tactics he’d learned in basic training, reversing his and Frederic’s positions and all but using Frederic as a shield, quickly releasing him when he heard the gun fire. Two down and one to go. Turning quickly to see where Jeffrey had run off to, Jensen groaned in pain as a bullet sliced through his abdomen, the older man falling to his knees once more. 

“No!” Jared screamed, tears springing to his eyes at the thought of losing Jensen. His hand was shaking as he raised the gun again, pointing it at Jeffrey. Before tonight, he’d never shot anyone before, but he wasn’t afraid to make the body count three. “Don’t move!” Jared warned, moving his other hand to rest on the gun as well in an attempt to steady his shaking hand. “Put the gun down, now!” 

A wide smile came to Jeffrey’s lips when he was told to put the gun down, Jeffrey slowly doing as he was told. “What are you gonna do, Jared?” he asked with a small smirk. “You’re not going to shoot me. You don’t have it in you, pet.” Sure, Jared had just shot two of his men, but he wouldn’t shoot him. After all, at least _some_ part of Jared had to still be in love with him. They’d shared so many years and memories together, so he knew that he was safe. Taking a step closer to Jared, Jeffrey suggested, “Come on, Jay – put the gun down and we’ll forget this ever happened. We can be happy together again.” Of course, Jeffrey knew that wasn’t true, but Jared didn’t have to be clued into that. Now that Jeffrey knew Jared had been unfaithful, all of those times he’d asked him to marry him and Jared refused made a lot more sense, and it made his heart ache all over again. Jared needed to be punished for this. 

For a split second, Jared almost did as he was told because he was so scared of disobeying Jeffrey; however, one look at Jensen with his pleading green eyes, and Jared quickly changed his mind, aiming low so he didn’t hit any major organs and pulling the trigger, blowing out Jeffrey’s kneecap, causing the older man to scream in pain before he fell to the ground. “Death would be too kind,” Jared snarled, standing as if he was frozen to the spot as he stared at Jeffrey’s pained face. 

Jensen painfully pushed himself to his feet, eyes watching Jared cautiously as he placed one hand on Jared’s shoulder and the other over Jared’s hands, which were clasped tightly around the gun. “Okay baby,” he whispered softly when Jared jumped like a spooked animal. “It’s okay – give me the gun.” He smiled softly when Jared did as he was told, wrapping one arm around Jared’s shoulder and pulling the younger man against his chest, his lips pressing against the top of Jared’s head instantly. “It’s okay, Jay, just calm down,” he soothed, rubbing his hand up and down Jared’s back as the younger man shook in Jensen’s grasp.

Suddenly, flashing lights and the sound of sirens filled the air, Jim and Jensen’s team’s cars peeling into the driveway, their tires screeching to a halt. Jim was the first to step out of the car, his face falling when he saw Mark and Frederic’s lifeless bodies on the ground. Clearly, something had happened here and it was going to be up to them to get the whole story before the press got here and blew the whole thing out of proportion. “Jensen, are you all right?” Jim asked, moving closer to his agent and the young man he was coddling. “What happened here?”

When his eyes fell on Jeffrey, he couldn’t help but smile, taking in the other man’s appearance. The pain on his face alone was enough to make Jim’s day. “He tried to kill us,” Jensen explained, groaning softly as he shifted and the wound on his side pulled, blood oozing down his side and his pant leg. “That should be enough to send him away for a few years. And I’m sure now that he’s powerless, we’ll be able to get someone to talk and put him away for the rest of his life.” The sound of more sirens filled the air, and Jensen and Jared were both quickly ushered to the ambulance to be checked out as Jim dragged Jeffrey to his feet and read him his rights. Because Jeffrey was injured, Jim had to practically drag him to the car, which he took great pleasure in doing as Jeffrey groaned and gasped in pain the whole way there.

**~~**

“I’m not staying here,” Jensen assured the doctor who was trying to make him stay the night for observation. “I want to go home. I’m fine.” The bullet had only grazed him, and Jensen had a few stitches in his side, but there was no major damage done. “Where’s Jared?” he asked, gently pushing the nurse’s hands away from him when she tried to get him to lie back down on the bed. “I need to see him. Is he all right?”

Before the doctor could answer Jensen, there was a soft knock at the door, Jared smiling softly when Jensen’s eyes landed on him. “Hi,” he breathed, biting into his bottom lip as he waited for Jensen to invite him in. Of course, Jared knew that he probably didn’t need to be told he was allowed to come in, but it was only polite. “Are you okay, Jen?”

Without answering Jared’s question, Jensen pushed himself out of the bed, ignoring the protests from both the doctor and the nurse as he walked to Jared and passionately kissed the younger man. “I’m fine, baby. Are you okay?” he asked, his hands and eyes both roaming over Jared’s body to make sure he didn’t have any hidden injuries.

He didn’t bother to answer Jensen’s question, instead pressing his lips to his lover’s once more. Jared thoroughly mapped out Jensen’s mouth with his tongue, moaning softly into the kiss before he broke for air. “Can we get out of here?” he asked softly, not wanting to be in this hospital any longer. He hated hospitals – it reminded him of when he lost his parents.

Smiling softly, Jensen nodded, wrapping an arm around Jared’s shoulders. “Yeah, let’s go home, baby.” Jim would probably bitch at him for not staying overnight like the doctor suggested later, but Jensen didn’t care all that much. Right now, Jensen didn’t care about anything except getting out of here and being with Jared. After all, now that Jeffrey was out of the picture, he and Jared had nothing to be worried about.

**~~**

** _One Year Later_ **

The trial was finally over, Matt, Sebastian, and Samantha all stepping up to the plate and telling every horrible detail of Jeffrey’s life, sealing the older man’s fate in his prison cell. Jared was happier than ever and he and Jensen were now living in a two bedroom house a few blocks away from Misha and about ten minutes away from Alona. Everything was perfect as far as Jensen was concerned, a wide smile coming to his lips as he plated the hamburgers that were finished grilling, handing the plate to Jared so he could put them on the picnic table for people to start digging in. 

Alona was the first to take a burger, handing her boyfriend and Jensen’s partner and best friend, Christian, a plate so he could get his food as well. Misha wrapped his arm around his new boyfriend, Matt, and smiled at his brother, punching Jared in the arm playfully. As Jared started walking back to the grill to see Jensen again, he was intercepted by Samantha, the older woman smiling at him as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Hi sweetie,” she greeted, handing Jared the pie she had in her hands. “I made this for you boys. I know how much Jensen loves his pie, after all. It’s apple – his favorite.”

After thanking Samantha and Jim for the pie and for coming, Jared tried to make his way over to Jensen again, chuckling softly when he almost tripped over their two new puppies, Harley and Sadie. Bending down to scratch his pooches behind the ears, Jared tossed one of their toys across the yard, smiling softly when his dogs chased after it. Now that his dogs and their guests were occupied, Jared finally made it to Jensen, taking the plate of hotdogs he now had, leaning into his lover’s body as he pressed his lips to Jensen’s, moaning softly as a small smile came to his lips. “Is this everything? You ready to eat?”

A wide smile came to Jensen’s lips when Jared asked if he was ready to eat, giving his head a small nod. “Yeah, that’s everything. Let’s dig in.” His smile only widened when Jared sat down, Jensen taking a few minutes to just bask in the happiness he was feeling. Now that this whole trial thing was over, and Jim had promised not to send him undercover for a while, Jensen felt like he had the best life a man could ask for. And he wouldn’t trade it for the world.


End file.
